Engines have been revving at Hockinson Heights Elementary School as 29 students spent the last few months preparing to compete in Clark County’s Public Utilities Solar Car Challenge. Ten teams of fourth and fifth grade HHES students engineered hybrid solar and battery powered cars to enter in the competition held on March 11 at Hudson Bay High School. The engineering competition was open to all school districts across the county and previously hosted hundreds of participants at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Several of our HHES teams finished in second and third place in multiple categories.
Our Shock Runners and Solar Speed teams took home second and third place, respectively, in both car races and the overall champion categories. The Speedy Turtles scored second place in the design and interview category. We are very proud of our 29 students for taking the initiative to pursue their passions both inside and out of the classroom.
Hockinson Heights Elementary School kindergarten teacher Michelle Perry and Highly Capable Program specialist Hollie Rose led the Solar Car Club and helped students prepare for the competition. The Solar Car Challenge is an academic tournament that judges students’ design and engineering process, contestants’ understanding of renewable energy principles, and a day-long race of their handbuilt solar cars.
. 
“The Solar Car Challenge gives our students the opportunity to engage in the engineering and design process with purpose and intention,” Coach Rose said. She observed that preparing for the tournament taught students how to overcome setbacks and work as a team.
This year’s Solar Car Challenge was the first time the competition has been hosted in three years. At the 2019 competition, 176 teams from all across Clark County participated at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. View KGW 8’s coverage of the 2019 competition here.
Congratulations to the following students for their exemplary performance at the Solar Car Competition!
-
Shock Runners: Nelson Hendrickson, Kellan Mullen, and Will Talbert
-
Speedy Turtles: Hudson Henry, Charlie Jackson, Isaac Lang
-
Solar Speed: Kevin Brown, Evelyn Buller, and Naya Dastgheib
