Cocoa - Tuesday April 23, 2024: High school students from central and southeast Florida got the chance to live the electric life of a race car driver at the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa last weekend.
Students participated in the Electrathon competition – racing electric vehicle creations they’ve been working on for the last several months.
Florida Power & Light donated EV building kits and provided training in January so students could create an electric go-kart for the race. Their goal wasn’t to create the fastest EV – but to design the most efficient electric vehicle that can travel the longest distance on a single charge.
Among the schools that took part were a team from Indiantown High School. It was their first ever Electrathon race, and the Indiantown High School team finished in 4th place among the high school division – a spot the school was more than satisfied with.
“We’ve had this car working on it since February,” “To see it actually in the race and see it completed, the kids are just having a blast here. And if they’re having a blast, I’m having a blast," said says Indiantown High School educator Michael Cunningham.
The high school students applied their creativity in a hands-on, practical setting, while encouraging teamwork, problem-solving and critical thinking.
“Knowing that we were the catalyst for them being able to be here to learn, and to be thinking about careers that are going to take them into the future is really amazing," said Crystal Stiles, Executive director of development for distributed technologies and mobility with FPL.
The race happened in conjunction with the EnergyWhiz competition, where students share their unique, solar energy-related projects like solar cook-offs and critter comfort cottage competitions.
Events like EnergyWhiz can help to inspire the next generation of leaders to choose careers in STEAM as FPL continues to invest in clean technologies like solar energy that help deliver reliable electricity while keeping bills as low as possible for customers.
To learn more about Electrathon and FPL’s commitment to the next generation of STEM leaders, visit: FPL.com/education.