“The car is our textbook,” says John Ready as he sits behind the wheel of their venerable Solar Car, “The Hunt.” His teammates nod in agreement.

 

Ready and 11 other Winston School students make up Winston School ’s Solar Car Team. Each year, the students work on improving past teams’ solar-powered cars and/or building new ones. They also compete in various solar-car races held around the country and world.

 

The program began in 1991 and has experienced increased recognition and success ever since. The New York Times wrote about the school’s program in 2003. Also that year, the students became the first high-school team in race history to finish the prestigious World Solar Challenge — a 10-day, 1,800-mile challenge held in . In 2002 and 2004, the team won first place in the Dell-Winston School Solar Challenge, a multi-day race at Texas Motor Speedway, which was also started by the Winston Solar Team in 1995 as the first high-school solar car competition.

 

Ready, one of two team captains, says that because he and his team members learn differently, some concepts are harder for them to grasp through traditional pen-and-paper methods. But participating in the Solar Team, which involves programs other than the car, offers these kids an alternate hands-on learning experience. Here, they not only gain knowledge of science and mechanical engineering, but also acquire skills in team building, public speaking, community service and planning.

 

           Not to mention fund-raising. The team must raise the money to build and operate a solar car, as well as fund trips to races in such faraway places as .

 

Expenses number in the tens of thousands — way more than your typical bake sale rakes in. So the students prepare elaborate presentations for corporations and other potential benefactors that can make significant donations. In the past, they’ve raised funds through companies such as Texas Instruments, Dell and Fossil.

 

“To raise money, we are not only learning about our solar car — we also learn how to present ourselves,” says co-captain Chris Jacobs.

 

This year, if the team can raise $15,000, Hunt Oil has promised to match it.

 

“We try to find people who have an interest in what we do,” says Dr. Lehman Marks, the director of the Solar Car program.

 

Then it’s to the drawing board. The students design and order all parts for the car before they begin building it — a process that takes about two years to complete. After construction, they take the car out for test drives, making sure to log at least 1,000 miles before entering any car in a race.

 

This year’s team — Ready, Jacobs, Jon Crim, John Reel, Eddie Vildasol, Nick Glass, Spencer Morehead, Xander Aulson, Preston Patry, Chris Hamann, David Hardy and Matt Craven — is in the process of building another car.

 

Hamann and Petry, both Preston Hollow residents, are hoping they’ll be able to take the new car to the Australian World Solar Challenge in 2007 as seniors. But for now, they’re enjoying just learning the ropes.

 

“I haven’t been shocked yet, so that’s a good thing,” laughs Petry, part of the team’s electrical squad. But he says he’s getting to know more about electricity and wiring — something that has always fascinated him.

 

“I’ve always taken things apart, so that I could see all the wires,” he says. “Now I know how it all works.”

 

Hamann is on the mechanical team, mostly working with the cars’ batteries, which weigh in at about 28 lbs.

 

“I always have to work with one hand behind my back,” Hamann says. “You can never use both hands with the battery because a spark might go through and give you a heart attack.”

 

          While learning their different roles within the team, both Hamann and Petry say their most difficult challenge is problem-solving, whether it’s figuring out the source of a short circuit or just generally trying to make the car function better.

 

But it’s also the challenge that teaches them the most.

 

“The hardest thing is when you have a problem — finding out what it is and then figuring out how to approach it,” Patry says. “Doc (Marks) doesn’t help. He wants us to figure it out on our own and learn from our experiences.”