THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 24, 1996 TAG: 9603240046
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CONWAY LENGTH: Long : 143 lines
Last year, students at Northampton County High School-East shocked the automotive world by producing the best student-built electric car in America.
This month, the school finished third in the same competition. First place went to Port Townsend High School in Washington state, second to Camelback High School in Arizona.
Still, across this isolated and impoverished community people are rejoicing, having once again proven to everyone - especially their wealthier and more worldly competitors - that money isn't necessarily a prerequisite for success.
``Overall, I think we won - regardless of how it turned out,'' said Curtis Belfield, one of 18 seniors that comprise NEAT, the Northampton Electric Auto Team.
``I thought we were pretty well-respected. People knew who we were,'' echoed classmate Joe McKeller.
Such recognition has long eluded this little locality in northeastern North Carolina and its high school of about 640 students.
``This has been just a real solid source of pride to the county. It's given a lot of positive attention to a school system that hasn't gotten a lot of positive attention before,'' said physics teacher Eric Ryan.
Ryan, a University of California-Berkeley graduate who came to Northampton via a national teaching program, helped create the school's Electric Automotive Technology program with veteran instructor Harold Miller.
Both men also emphasized the importance of the entire community's involvement in helping start and maintain the program.
``It's set an example for what a smaller, rural school system can do and blown away some perceptions of what we can't do out here,'' Ryan said.
Granted, placing third after being the defending champions at the Arizona Public Service Electronics competition in Phoenix wasn't exactly what everyone had hoped for.
But the school's continued success over bigger, more specialized schools has proven, once and for all, that one of the poorest counties in North Carolina can still produce a wealth of winners.
``Bigger doesn't mean better,'' said Shamika Smith, one of six female students in the Electric Vehicle vo-tech class. ``And quantity does not mean quality.''
Prior to last year's overall wins at the Richmond Grand Prix and the Arizona contest, Northampton was a virtual unknown on the electric automotive race scene.
The agrarian-based, sparsely populated county hardly seemed a hotbed for high-tech wizardry.
The venerable brick Colonials and ranch homes that line the main drag in ``downtown'' Conway yield to many manufactured homes and worn bungalows with plenty of farm fields and barns between them.
Ranked 95th out of 101 North Carolina counties in median household income, Northampton has seen its population decline in the past several years.
Almost 11 percent of the county's 20,000 residents are on welfare - a higher percentage than all but two other localities in the state's 33-county eastern region.
Academically, Northampton-East has not had an impressive track record. For example, two years ago, students' SAT scores averaged 700, far below the state's 860 average and among the lowest in the country.
Many of the student members of NEAT come from low-income households, much like the rest of the high school population, which is about 65 percent African-American.
``We're so small that we don't get any attention - until we get to the track,'' said Miller, a two-time county Teacher of the Year who grew up in Norfolk.
The entire school and community, it seems, has been bolstered by the NEAT victories.
``It has done so much for the morale of the community, the spirit of the community, the spirit of the kids,'' said Ryan, who also recently was named the county's top teacher.
``I think it's made, not just our club, but other teams in the school stronger,'' said NEAT member and senior Christy Vaughan. ``It's made them want to try harder to achieve more.''
So far, NEAT has converted a 1984 Honda Accord, 1985 Ford Escort and 1989 Geo Metro from gas to electric power.
The latter two vehicles - christened Shocker and Shocker II - are what thrust the school into the national limelight.
The success last year at both the Richmond (Va.) International Speedway and Firebird Speedway in Phoenix also was aided by students from nearby Northampton-West, Northwest Halifax and Weldon high schools.
The cars excelled in five areas: acceleration, handling, range, design and an oral presentation by students.
This year, the Northampton students entered the contests alone and came in first for ``best designed car in America.'' They finished the five-day event in Phoenix in third and fourth place, compared to first and 12th last time around.
One secret to their success may be in the way the class is run. Team-taught by Miller, a vocational instructor, and Ryan, an academian, students learn a multitude of disciplines and immediately put them into practice.
``It's real life,'' Ryan said. ``That's what kids need to study and learn about - real things, not just things in a textbook.''
They also earn credit toward their final grade and work after school and weekends to get the vehicles in racing form.
Everyone in the class is impressed with the cooperative spirit that has prevailed throughout the program.
``I was disappointed in the performance of the cars. But the teamwork was outstanding,'' said Rye Simmons.
The team also received financial support from the community, particularly companies like Sprint Carolina Telephone and its subsidiary, North Supply trucking company, which transported the cars to and from Arizona.
In return, many students are re-evaluating their futures.
``Before I got into this class, I didn't know what I wanted to do. Now I feel like I'm going to go to college and study electrical engineering,'' said Shayron Lassiter, an ROTC cadet.
Getting into the class was the students' first obstacle. Students had to apply, and the instructors made sure the class makeup reflected the overall school population and included female students.
That also made the students stand out during the national championship.
``We had a lot more people and a lot more girls'' at the national championships, said Odessa Garner, who, with her other African-American classmates, were the only black students at the Phoenix competition.
Other NEAT members not already mentioned include Aljinar Boone, Stephanie Blowe, Kendall Benjamin, Tomekia Deloatch, Lucas Vaughan, Corey Powell, Adam Glover, Robert Jacobs, Willie Price III, Andy Aston, Brad Herman and Marvin Hythe.
Now that Northampton-East has solidified its standing in the national electric car community, school officials and students are hoping to help spread the word on alternative energy sources.
Principal William Mueller envisions an entire fleet of electric cars at his high school.
``We will become the premier spot to find out about electric vehicles and alternative energy in the southeastern United States,'' he told a local newspaper last month.
Currently, about 100 high schools nationwide have turned gas vehicles into electric ones.
``This is the future of electric cars because we can't run off gasoline cars for the rest of our lives,'' NEAT team-member Benjamin said.
``If a little school like East can build two electric cars, why can't all the schools?'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ANNE SAITA/The Virginian-Pilot
Students from Northampton County High School-East and their
instructors stand with the two electric cars they converted from
gasoline to electric power to earn third place in a nationwide
competition.
by CNB