It wasn't quite the Daytona 500, but students at Poplar Bluff Middle School sped down the campus's main drive on Friday in soapbox derby cars sturdy enough to race.
Fifth-grade teacher Kara Quade's summer class focuses on a curriculum based in science, technology, engineering and math. Earlier in the week, Quade assigned her students to teams, tasking each group with building a derby car as part of the course's engineering element.
"A lot of these kids have never gotten to use things like drills and many don't know what a screw or a bolt is," she explained. "So my husband made a template and I really just gave them the materials and told them to go to town and they did."
Quade's husband, Seth, measured and cut the wood before placing marks to show students where to insert the screws.
Once constructed, the kids painted each car and added string for steering before heading outside to the slope in front of the school's front doors.
This was the first time fifth-grader Trinity Tuggle built something large enough to sit on and drive, she said. Her sister, Tangent, is also in the class and the girls worked together on the project.
When it was Tuggle's turn to race, Tangent ran behind her, giving the teal and yellow derby car a boost.
Classmate Addison Price said the cars "are pretty slow" but speed up with support.
"It's actually really fun, though," she said. "If your partner is pushing you really fast then it can be kind of scary. It's kind of like sledding except on wheels and it hurts if you crash."
Tuggle said she signed up for Quade's STEM class because math is her favorite subject. Though building the derby car primarily focused on engineering, Tuggle said the project incorporated other subjects.
"We used math to measure where the screws were going to go," she said.
Chase O'Neal, also in the fifth grade, said the most difficult aspect of building the derby car was maintaining a group mind-set.
"This required a lot of thinking, a lot of team work and not letting just one person take charge," he said.
Tuggle agreed.
"We all had to work together and figure out who was going to do what," she said. "Half of our crew worked on the back and half worked on the front."
Price added, "It was kind of difficult at times because some of us would start arguing but it was fun now that it's done and we get to ride them. We're all happy now."
Tuggle said strategies varied between each four-person team.
O'Neal said he signed up for the summer STEM class because he is a fan of math and science. He said building a derby car currently is tied with making homemade ice cream as his favorite project so far.
Destiny Jackson, a fifth grader, said she "loves using power tools," and thinks this is the reason engineering is her favorite element of STEM.
"We just drilled the screws in to hold the wood together, but my dad doesn't trust me with power tools so I don't really get to use them at home," she said.
Jackson said STEM has enabled her to explore a variety of new areas she wouldn't ordinarily experience in the classroom. Many of the lessons, she said, apply to the real world.
"If you do ever want to be a construction person, or a lawyer, or a scientist, STEM can teach you all those things," Jackson said.