Dorchester Times: DHS Electric Vehicle Racing Team Takes Top Honors

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

DHS Electric Vehicle Racing Team Takes Top Honors

The Times has learned that DHS' electric vehicle (EV) racing team has concluded their racing season and brought home some hardware. The team is comprised of DHS industrial arts students Jermey Inderlied, Sid Stern, Spencer Kotas, Kyle Palky, Russel Barak and Dustin Rathbun.

The Dorchester EV racing team competed in two races this year -- one in Lincoln and one in Columbus. They finished second in Lincoln, missing first place by only half of a lap. In Columbus, the DHS team came in first and won the school's first trophy. The winner of a race is determined by how many laps a car can do in an hour.

Omaha Public Power District started this program to challenge students to think about alternative fuel. Approximately 75 schools compete in the program, which is known as "Power Drive" or "Electrathon America." In addition to the competition and team work, the class teaches the students about aerodynamics; alternative fuels to help America diversify its energy sources; and the basics of how a car works. The students must devise a plan and build the car from scratch. Also, the students collect donations to help pay for the materials needed to build the car.

The DHS EV racing team would like to thank Young's Welding of Friend for donating all of the metal used to build the frame of the car; Al's Auto Body for donating the painting materials; and Palky Farms, CarQuest, Novak Auction Service, and Radio Shack for the cash donations.

10 comments:

AnonymousApril 27, 2010 at 5:33 PM
Steve Fusco is such an inspiration!
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AnonymousApril 27, 2010 at 5:33 PM
That Steven Fusco... He's one of a kind...
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BobApril 27, 2010 at 9:46 PM
Nice job kids. You made Dorchester and DHS proud. We might have the 21st century's Henry Ford on our hands right here in D-ville!
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AnonymousApril 27, 2010 at 10:31 PM
Where would the Dorchester EV program be without the fantastic leadership ability of Steven Fusco?
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AnonymousApril 28, 2010 at 12:03 AM
Engineers in the making at DHS???
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AnonymousApril 28, 2010 at 9:25 PM
Very cool. Thanks to the Friend businesses and Crete business for the donations.

I will be patronizing them.
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AnonymousMay 1, 2010 at 9:17 AM
These are the type of inovative teaching techniques that Dr. Leonard Sax, a world reknown psychologist believes will help motivate young men to learn.
There is a growing epidemic of unmotivated boys and underachieving young men.
Thanks for this hands on experience. Wish our local business had been asked to make a donation. We would have been glad to donate.
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AnonymousMay 2, 2010 at 9:55 AM
Congratulations to the team! As for the reference to Dr. Leonard Sax, I would be interested in hearing from school psychologists regarding Dr. Sax's views.
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AnonymousMay 3, 2010 at 10:58 AM
What is your local business? Maybe contact the school and let the teacher know that you are interested in donating money. Be proactive, I am sure the program will not turn down any donations.
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AnonymousMay 8, 2010 at 8:45 PM
Until now no one knew about this project. Maybe send letters to the local businesses.Will the project be happening next year? Same time of year? What? We don't know, I didn't read about it in the school news letter! Just read about it now!
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."