Imaginations Run Wild at Laguna Blanca Soapbox Derby

By Christian Whittle, Santa Barbara News-Press Correspondent

From toilets to abandoned loveseats, students' imaginations run wild

Paloma Drive was transformed into a race track as students and faculty of Laguna Blanca School competed in their inaugural Soapbox Derby Wednesday morning, 5/29.

More than 25 students ran around their karts making last-minute adjustments and repairs. Some went for a minimal aerodynamic design; others bet on the weight of office chairs and hastily taped on textbooks to give them an extra edge.

Only salvaged materials were allowed, so students got creative with their designs. Bicycle wheels, recliners, boots, and wagon parts were cobbled together to make eleven karts.

One kart, called the Potty Racer, used a handicap-toilet seat and had rolls of toilet paper hanging from its side. Each team gave names to their karts, like Jerry Brown, The Bat Mobile, and The Doctor.

Every few minutes, teams pushed their drivers off the starting line as the crowd cheered and ran after them down the hill. The Derby was the brainchild of John Pagano, who has taught the Upper School engineering elective class for two years. Mr. Pagano had the idea for a soapbox derby while coming up with projects for the class, and after talking to the administration, the school decided to make it an event.

"They said, 'that's a really cool idea. We're going to make a big deal out of it,'" said Mr. Pagano, "'can we do this every year?'"

The project was embedded with physics lessons, said Mr. Pagano. For a little over a month, Upper School students worked in class and out on measuring the altitude of the start and finish lines, calculating speeds, and finding the best materials for their karts.

To keep trash out of landfills and the competition fair, students had to scavenge for parts. The lessons were inspired by the science and fine tuning that goes into professional derby racing.

"We had lots of lessons on friction, what kinds of wheels would be best, what size wheels, momentum, and stored energy," said Mr. Pagano, "because all of that really comes into play."

The students learned a lot of real-world skills and sound engineering practices during the project, said Mr. Pagano. Along with physics lessons, students gained practical skills that they had not yet been exposed to, like drilling and hammering two pieces of wood together.

"If I had a dollar for every time I had to tell those kids 'Righty tighty, lefty loosey,'" laughed Mr. Pagano.

"I didn't know what ball bearings were," said Laguna Blanca freshman Claire Tolles, "I do now!"

Claire built her kart out of an old wheelbarrow frame. She and her teammate named it after the movie Top Gun and dressed as Goose and Maverick for the big race.

Although they didn't get very far in the tournament, Claire says they know exactly where they went wrong and she's excited for next year.

The race was originally just for the engineering and robotics classes, but Mr. Pagano and the administration decided it would be fun to open it up to the entire Upper School. They plan on including the Middle School next year.

The whole school came together for the event, said Mr. Pagano. The faculty kept everyone safe, the facilities crew helped with all of the set up and the administration served as judges. Judges determined which karts received the Most Creative Award, the Soundly Engineered Award, and the Death Trap Award.

Not every kart made it down the quarter mile of track, but students had a table of tools and parts and could quickly hammer their rides into shape. The tournament was double elimination, giving everyone at least two races to show off their designs. It seemed like half of the fun was in fixing popped tires and broken axels and hoping that the rickety karts would still make it down the hill.

At the end of over a dozen races, Mr. Pagano's own Archie Bunker, a kart made out of scooter parts and an old armchair he found on the side of the road, took first place.

"I told them I wasn't going to go easy on them," said Mr. Pagano with a grin, "but everyone that participated did an awesome job."


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