ELKMONT AND TEAM ZERO HOUR

Elkmont's Sarah Christopher is part of the Team Zero Hour (News Courier article link at bottom of this post).  After reading the article, Hill Spirit wanted to learn more about Sarah and why she choose tech school as part of her school experience.

Sarah, the daughter of Charles Christopher and Shearon Craig, was one of those little ones who took everything apart to see how it worked.  This Elkmont senior continues to love finding out how things work and creating something new.  

"I wanted to do engineering and saw tech school as an opportunity to get a step ahead. I am learning about precision machining technology.  This area of study allows me to not only design something on a computer or make a blueprint, but also create it and hold it in my hand.  I want to be a mechanical engineer and the majority of mechanical engineers work with machinists to get their ideas from paper to a physical part.  I got involved in the Limestone County Career Technical Center (LCCTC) Zero Hour race team by applying and going through an interview process. The students involved in this project were from precision machining, pre-engineering, and drafting."

Sarah was already been accepted to Alabama and Auburn. She is studying both engineering departments to find which one will be the right fit in helping her achieve her goal of turning a degree in mechanical engineering into a developmental engineer.  As part of her college experience, she would like to be involved in Air Force ROTC and be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant upon graduation.

When Team Zero Hour hits the track, it’s slightly less exciting than NASCAR — mainly because their race car only hits a top speed of 17 mph. Most drivers would consider this a snail’s pace at best, but for the LCCTC team, it was good enough for a third-place finish at the Whitesburg P-8 Greenpower Race, hosted on Halloween at the Huntsville school.  This is the first year LCCTC has participated in the Greenpower program. 

The teens from the school’s pre-engineering, drafting and precision machining programs were tasked with building a car operated solely on electric power. The only stipulation is teams cannot alter the motor provided to them, but the makeup of the car is up to them. At the race, winners are chosen by who can complete the most laps in 90 minutes. There are also categories for which teams have the best sales presentations and engineering notebooks.

 “Most people (on the team) hadn’t done anything like this before,” Elkmont High School senior Sarah Christopher, one of the drivers, said. “It looked like fun.” Christopher and Phillips are both looking to enter engineering fields and saw the Greenpower race team as an opportunity to practice more hands-on aspects of the job, like wiring and frame construction. Currently the team is researching body designs to improve aerodynamics and increase speed. The framework of their racer was supplied in a kit the team bought to understand how the car should look for their first year. One of the team’s instructors, Jason Emerson of the precision machining department, said the goal is for the teachers and students to become proficient enough to build a car from scratch at the tech school in the upcoming years. 

Coming in third place during their first race was a pleasant surprise for Emerson, too. “I was very proud of them,” he said. “They showed me something — that they can all work together. I think winning (future races) is a real possibility now … sooner than expected." 

Team Zero Hour, named so because they waited until the last minute to start doing anything, Christopher said, will have all winter to perfect their race car. The next races are scheduled for April in Birmingham at Barber Motorsports.

LINK : ATHENS NEWS COURIER