GENERAL RACING NEWS 2011
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MARCH 4, 2011 ----- NASCAR PARTNERS WITH TEN80 EDUCATION TO HELP ATTRACT YOUTH TO SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) EDUCATION; Partnership Helps Increase Interest In STEM Careers ----- NASCAR and Ten80 Education’s Student Racing Challenge announced today a partnership focusing on attracting youth into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.
Increased national focus on student scores in math/science testing prompted NASCAR to seek a high-performance educational initiative. The program had to be research-based, compelling for youth participation and reach a widely underserved audience, making the Ten80 Student Racing Challenge the right fit for NASCAR.
“Motorsports, and NASCAR in particular, is the only sport won or lost with the consistent application of science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Jim Obermeyer, NASCAR managing director of brand and consumer marketing. “NASCAR hopes to provide ‘heroes’ for students of STEM, encouraging them to study fields widely used in the sport. We look forward to playing a major role in the educational development of America’s youth.”
The Ten80 Student Racing Challenge uses a NASCAR-themed curriculum for students in grades 6-12, paralleling student activity to the arduous preparation of real NASCAR teams. Students will be challenged to optimize performance of a 1:10 scale race car just like the NASCAR professionals in track garages all across the country.
Mini-race teams composed of students will earn points between October and May and points leaders will then compete in the National Finals held at a NASCAR track each May. Teams can earn points in various categories including sanctioned races, aerodynamic design, creative engineering and alternative energies and sustainable design. Marketing and graphic design are rewarded as teams seek sponsorship and media presence.
“NASCAR racing is one of the few sports that actively uses science, technology, engineering and math in real time,” said Jeff Thompson, mechanical engineer and vice president of technology for Ten80 Education. “For every one driver, hundreds of technicians and engineers are behind the scenes making this week’s win a possibility. Our student teams operate the same way.”
The Ten80 Student Racing Challenge will use the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C. as a key resource for its curriculum. From direct communication with some of the sport’s top engineers and researchers to access to the sanctioning body’s R&D
facility, the Ten80 Student Racing Challenge will have a “home base” of sorts unlike any other STEM project nationwide.
According to Terri Stripling, president of Ten80 Education, with more than 14 million possible setup combinations for the car, Ten80 Student Racing Challenge offers a wide range of subjects for investigation. From basic scientific method to upper level calculus, the program works to bring real-world math modeling to students of all backgrounds and talents, including a focus on underserved student populations.
Ten80 Education is a team of engineers, scientists, teachers, professors and parents all dedicated to a single mission of educating students on STEM subjects, STEM careers and how they affect the world around us.
“We’ve worked hard over the last decade to create a focused and engaging STEM curriculum for students at all ability levels,” said Beverly Simmons, former middle school science teacher and executive director of the Ten80 STEM Education Center, a 501 (c)3 organization and sanctioning body for the student league. “This new partnership with NASCAR will take this most important program to a whole new level.”
The core of Ten80 Education was founded in the 1990s when a team of teachers spearheaded by Simmons reached out into their community looking for ways to develop authentic classroom applications for math and science. Though they didn’t know it at the time, the engineers, technicians and professors who answered the questions were forming the first Ten80 Engineer-Educator teams. Since then, Ten80 Education has continued to pair STEM professionals with educators to provide professional development for K-12 teachers and to develop innovative and effective supplemental K-12 programs.
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