A Resource for 4th-8th Grade Model Solar Car Competitions

About the Program

Junior Solar Sprint (JSS) offers resources to empower teachers, mentors, and other community members to engage 4th-8th grade youth in the designing, building, and racing model solar cars. This program sparks interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through hands-on, problem solving challenges.

Funded by the US Army since 2001, JSS primarily served the northeastern United States through the provision of teacher workshops, minimal sponsorship of area events, and an organized regional championship. During the 2012 program year, the structure and reach of JSS will be transitioned to align the program with the AEOP goal of having a national impact on STEM education.

A New Direction for JSS

The Technology Student Association (TSA) has been identified as the new organization to administer JSS. In February of 2012 TSA will commence work on building a new online resource center for JSS. The online JSS toolbox will include educational materials, supplementary instructional videos, connections to outside resources, and ‘how to’ guides for implementing JSS curriculum and races – everything needed for a teacher or mentor to bring JSS to youth in their community. Online teacher/mentor training workshops and an online competition will be in place for the 2013 program year. The goal is to provide resources that will enable teachers and youth across the country to participate in JSS and to strengthen the connections between the excitement of the event and building STEM competencies in American youth. It is a very exciting time for JSS!

Support for JSS races in 2012

While the Army will no longer facilitate and fund a Northeast Championship Race, as it has it in previous years, it remains committed to supporting local and regional races in the Northeast during the transition of the JSS program. This support will come in the form of honorariums which will be awarded to selected race organizers to assist with race-related costs.

The application for the JSS honorarium is available here. Applications must be submitted by March 1, 2012 for full consideration.

Questions

Please direct questions about JSS to Lauren Thomas of the Army’s Youth Science Cooperative Outreach Agreement at laurendt@vt.edu.