Fan Club Members Help Students “Race Into Reading”

By Eileen Waters

The Rockwood (MO) School District selected a "Racing Into Reading" theme this year to encourage their K-5 th grade elementary students to read during the first week of March. Thanks to a host of St. Louis area racers it was a huge success! Volunteering their time and talents were three-time SCCA National Autocross Champion Martha Lou Haddon, 11 year-old go kart racer Bryan Heiple, 14 year-old NHRA Division 3 Jr. Dragster Champion Kelsey Beimfohr, SCCA Formula Vee Racer Nick Grapsas, 16 year-old motocross rider Hayden Granda, brother and sister motocross riders Joe Sapienza, 8 and Taylor Sapienza, 14, five-time Big River Sand Drags Overall Champion (and grandmother) Gladys Edwards, and POWRi National Midget Champion Brad Loyet. Bringing out "show cars" were Dan and CoAnn Connoyer with a quarter-midget and a vintage midget, and David Kovac with his ASA Late Model Stock Car.

Participating elementary schools included Green Pines, Uthoff Valley, Eureka, Geggie, and Fairway. Kimberly Frauenhoffer, a Partners in Education Facilitator for the Rockwood School District, said, "Our schools love hands-on, interactive programs and this presentation blew it out of the park! The fact that the presenters were "Weekend Warriors" made it even better. These are people that the students can relate to." She added, "Everyone is raving about what a wonderful program it was and all of the schools LOVED the program and were very happy."

I created a presentation to explain everything that races in St. Louis (which is no small feat) and how it ties to reading, staying in school, and not racing on the streets. There was audience participation, character education (thanks to Martha Lou choosing integrity over a fourth national title), and instructions on how to get to set in a race car. Photos of St. Louis racers were featured in the presentation and one racer was instantly recognized by every kid at every school...............BIGFOOT! Although when asked where BIGFOOT lives, some thought "he" lived in a jungle!

Among the points I made in the presentation were the different ways racers read to improve their performance. Racers need to read a rule book. They can also read "the course" (whether it is reading "the mud" at a dirt track, or the "pylons" of an autocross course, etc.), and they can read photos. The students viewing the presentation also had a chance to learn about the history of safety in racing through their own reading of photos of midget and sprint cars from the 1930s and 1940s compared to those from 2008.

Rick Riebling of St. Louis Motor Sports Review, a local cable access TV show highlighting St. Louis racing and racers, prepared a short DVD showing various types of race cars in action. The kids really enjoyed the night-time Top Fuel Funny Cars racing at Gateway International Raceway.

Each school incorporated different themes and decorations to personalize their "Racing into Reading Week" program. Several schools had race cars on their hallway walls representing the books the kids had read or their favorite book. If the students at Eureka Elementary read 500 books, their principal would read them a book from the school's roof. Over at Geggie Elementary the school had a race car chained to the front of the building and loads of racing decorations, autographed items and drivers' bios posted throughout the school. Their goal was to read 58,000 minutes in a week!

Racing photographers Don Figler and Mark Weber donated photos and Rally America's "Rally in the 100 Acre Wood" donated autographed t-shirts and posters as reading incentives for each school's Reading Specialist. (A Reading Specialist, in part, helps students who have a more difficult time mastering reading.) Bob Simpson donated a "Crew Chief for a Day" certificate and side panels from his stock car.

Racing into Reading Week was a unique opportunity that provided loads of information, taught the importance of reading and staying in school, and emphatically stated that racing doesn't belong on the streets. Everyone involved had a blast!

 

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