The drive to achieve

Sunday, May 20, 2007
Brett Dalton/Herald-Tribune Sam Parton and Jerry Porter display a top fuel dragster to Fort Scott Middle School, in hopes of instilling a drive to achieve in the student's minds.

By Brett Dalton

Herald-Tribune

Fort Scott, Kan. -- Fort Scott Middle School students received educational lessons earlier this week from a unusual source -- a drag racer.

On Wednesday, Sam Parton and Jerry Porter of Team Thunder, a Top Fuel educational racing team that engages students from kindergarten through the post-secondary level, visited FSMS to talk to students about the importance of education. Parton and Porter met with each of the school's science classes and discussed not only education, but also education as it relates to racing.

Team Thunder's presentation was funded through the GEAR UP program, a discretionary grant program that is designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in post-secondary education. GEAR UP stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.

Jacque Doty, who works for Neosho County Community College as FSMS's GEAR UP director, said the GEAR UP grant is designated to one particular class and follows those same students through their high school graduation. Doty said the GEAR UP program started at FSMS last year with the seventh-grade class. GEAR UP funding will be available for special projects and education activities for that class until they graduate in 2011.

Doty said the grant was designated to that particular class simply for timing purposes, since that was the seventh grade class when the program began. Doty said that the class that was chosen to receive the funding did not receive it based on any academic standards.

The Team Thunder presentation was available for all FSMS students, Principal Barb Albright said, not simply the students covered by the grant.

"Every one of the students got to reap the benefits of this program and the Team Thunder presentation," Albright said.

The presentation concluded with a rousing experience as Porter started the dragster's engine and revved it up a couple times to give the students a sense of the power the car has.

Team Thunder made sure the students observed from a safe distance and protected their hearing. "We're going to start the car soon, but I first need everyone of you to start with your fingers in your ears," Parton told the students. "This can get pretty loud."

Also, before starting the car, Parton expressed his appreciation for FSMS having Team Thunder visit.

"We've traveled to a lot of schools around the area," Parton said. "We've been to some big schools and some smaller schools. I want to tell you, though, that Fort Scott Middle School is probably one of the best we've been to."

Parton also encouraged the students to continue to take education seriously throughout their lives.

"Always remember, no matter what you do, education is always the most important thing," Parton said.

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