 |
|
| September 9, 2008. Day 90 - Whitehorse, YT - solar car show and tell at school |
|
|
|
|
| Today, Mark Prins from Inanda Images (zulu word for happiness) was the support crew for the day. We met at Whitehorse Performance Centre and made our way to Phellipe's metal shop to pick up the solar car. Mark is a friend of Vince Fedoroff, the photographer for the Whitehorse Star, they both share a passion for photography and have taken some amazing photos. I was looking forward to having Mark coming along and help capture today's presentation on stills. Our first stop was at the Downtown Day Care, one of my youngest audience ever :). Despite of their young age they appeared intrigued by the unusual looking car. I had fun explaining how the solar car works. It wasn't too difficult, I felt I was among my age group :) The next stop was at the Individual Learning Center which offer an unique teaching program. While showing the car at the Individual Learning Center, Rene from the Whitehorse Elementary was passing by stopped to take a look at the solar car and asked if we could take it to his school, done! Whitehorse Elementary was the next stop. On a minute notice Rene got the school teachers, students and faculty outside for a massive presentation. Whitehorse Elementary is a French Immersion school. Since "je ne parlez pa france tres bien", the presentation was done in english. The students were one of the most enthusiastic audience I have came across. Cheering and clapping as the solar car drove but first there was the count down, un, deux, trois,... voiture solare... (one,two,three, solar car!), the magic words for the solar car to drive :) We got it on camera and the over 300 students saying it all together sounded fantastic. Merci! Next was the Holly Family school. This time the presentation took place inside the school gymnasium. I talked about the car, the project, the people behind, etc... answered questions. lots of questions. I couldn't believe the kind of questions I was getting the students, from how the car as built to sponsorship and funding for the tour. Later we all went outside for the kids to take a close look at the solar car and see it driving, and, again all together "one, two, three, solar car! " off it went and the cheering of the kids excited to see it taking off. Last stop for the day was the Porter Creek secondary School. We did a presentation to the film students who happened to be watching "who killed the electric car" when we arrived. They were excited to see the XOF1, specially because there is mention of GM's solar car Sunraycer that won the prestigious 1987 WSC (World Solar Challenge) in Australia. It was a great day, having had the opportunity to share the project with all those students was a very rewarding experience! Special thanks to Mark Prins. |
|
|
|
