The Alternative Press

MORRIS PLAINS, NJ – Area students gathered in the blazing heat and sun on Tuesday at Central Park of Morris County to race in the 11^th Junior Solar Sprints Competition.

“Green Hills is defending the title and won the cup last year,” said Joseph Caravella, TransOptions Environmental Programs Manager.

This year the “Pink Ladies Bug” team from Ogdensburg Elementary School took home the “Overall Winner” title.

Each team was given a solar panel, motor, wheels, axles, and competition rules, to go down the 66-foot long track.

From there, each is judged on speed, engineering, craftsmanship, documentation, and best use of recycled materials.

First Energy Foundation, PSE&G, the New Jersey Herald, and East Coast Alternative Energy were the sponsors.

Caravella said the organization was grateful to East Coast Alternative Energy for cutting three-foot aluminum rods into six-inch axels.

“We turned the repair table into the East Coast Alternative Energy table,” said Caravella, as a way to show their gratitude for help.

Hunter Gallo of Stillwater was one of the children who competed from the Stardust Home School. He said his car, “The Sun Drop”, was crafted from Styrofoam and balsa wood, with a Sundrop soda can.

“It didn’t really move,” said Gallo of his vehicle, and said it had to do with the gear ratio. “Just to see it move though was very cool. It didn’t win, but that’s alright.”

He had hopes, however, of being judged for his craftsmanship, or documentation.

Students from the Marian McKeown School’s “Team Barbie” and “KZT” were excited about the opportunity.

“It was a lot of fun,” Kyle Gibney remarked. “We’ll definitely do it again next year.

“The kids are having a good time,” said their teacher Dan Weissman, who teaches sixth grade science at Marian McKeown School.

Leslie Ditta, another six grade science teacher, but from Allen W. Roberts Elementary School in New Providence, said the students were so excited, and like Weissman, said it has been a learning experience.

“We were glad the weather turned out to be nice, the students have been adjusting to different surfaces over the last two week,” Ditta said.

“It’s a very positive competition, everyone supports each other, and everyone’s a good sport,” Ditta added.

Some of her students from last year have moved to New Providence Middle School’s team.

“It’s fun to see how more developed and sophisticated their models have become,” said Ditta.

Schools from The Alternative Press reading area in the competition included: Hardyston Township School, Kittatinny Regional High School, Marian E. McKeown School, Ogdensburg Elementary School, St. Joseph Regional School, Sussex Christian School, Willowglen Academy, Green Hills Elementary School, Stardust Home School, Stardust Home School, New Providence Middle School, and Allen W. Roberts Elementary School.

The winners are:

Speed

1st Place – “Rainbow Ninja” – Randolph Middle School – Matt Finkelstein, Brandi Lorenzo, Suzanne Medve and Natalie Katchen

2nd Place  - “Hope Speeder” – Hope Township School – Jeremy Diehl, Alex Nelson, Brian Zyck and Zack Panza

3rd Place – “The Ruler” – Mother of Divine Grace - Stephen Fuetkevic and John Peter Zappe

Engineering

1st Place – “Mark 1” – Briarcliff Middle School – Reid Goodbar, Owen Goldthwaile, Shawn McLaughlin and Ethan Whang

2nd Place – “The One We’re Working On” – Mountain View School – Gaby Cano and Jeffrey Sun

3rd Place – “Rainbow Ninja” – Randolph Middle School - Matt Finkelstein, Brandi Lorenzo, Suzanne Medve and Natalie Katchen

Craftsmanship

1st Place – “ Dance-a-Tron” – St. Joseph’s School, Mendham – Dani Schmidt, Olivia Vizzini, Meaghan Imossi and Isabell Snee

2nd Place – “Pink Ladies Bug” – Ogdensburg School - Gabriella Ciasullo, Rebecca Shepard and Randi Lyn Hornyak

3rd Place – “Solar Express” – Sussex Christian School – Stephen Schurter, Hannah Clark, Alyssa Wollery and Chris Faber

Best Use of Recycled Materials

1st Place – “???” – Unity Charter School – Ariel Pawlo, Jake Dentzer and Austin Eriksen

2nd Place – “Pink Ladies Bug” – Ogdensburg School – Gabriella Ciasullo, Rebecca Shepard and Randi Lyn Hornyak

3rd Place – “The Ruler” – Mother of Divine Grace – Stephen Fuetkevic and John Peter Zappe

Documentation Portfolio

1st Place -“2 and a ½ men” – Mt Pleasant Middle School – Ethan Morris, Kyle Ume and Zach Minion

2nd Place – “Hash Slinging Slasher” – Green Hills School – Carly Leifken, Bridget Schultz and Jake Wittig

3rd Place – “Apollo Rover” – New Providence Middle School – Mark VaderMerwe, Saad Khan, Rohan Mallya and Kevin Zhang

Students’ Choice

1st Place – “Splatter Painters” – Kittatinny Regional High School – Maddy Hughes and Ashlee Bickhardt

2nd Place – “Tigger” – Ogdensburg School – Ally Lame, Cait Collins and Erik Pedersen

3rd Place  - “Italian Stallion” – Green Hills School – Nick Adams, Ryan Holzhauer and Tommy Giordano