Nearly 200 students, their families and community members gathered at the Suncoast Science Center/Faulhaber Fab Lab on Saturday, April 6 for the organization’s annual remote control car competition.
The event is the culmination of two months of hands-on workshops held at the Faulhaber Fab Lab that taught participants engineering principles while building key 21st century skills like collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. Participants made up 55 teams and represented 12 Sarasota and Manatee area K-12 schools.
This year’s pirate theme was selected by the high school student committee that organizes and runs all aspects of the event. Race day activities included a design competition, a “Walk the Plank” challenge drag race and a main track lap race. Each competition included a first, second and third place with prizes including cash awards, camp scholarships donated by Ringling College of Art + Design and trophies custom made at the Fab Lab.
After beating out an elementary and high school team for the title of Grand Champion, a middle school team exclaimed, “I can’t believe we won. Our hard work really paid off!”
New this year, the Suncoast Science Center issued a challenge to all schools awarding a $1,000 cash prize to the school with the most participating teams. Fruitville Elementary School took home the honor with over nine teams registered.
“We are so thrilled to provide students with an opportunity like RC Car that allows them to build skills through teamwork and problem solving,” said Ping Faulhaber, executive director of the Suncoast Science Center. “These skills will help them stand out among their peers in the classroom, in life and as they look towards their futures.”
Winners from each competition category can be found on http://suncoastscience.org/rc-car.
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