OUR SCHOOLS • KOHALA HIGH
Champs of the electric car tip their hat to teamwork

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HONOMAKA'U, Hawai'i — Fern White is one of Hawai'i's top horsewomen, but now she's also hooked on electric cars.

The Kohala High School English teacher took over as coach of the school's electric car program this year, and the team was rewarded last month by finishing No. 1 in Hawaiian Electric Co.'s Electron Marathon electric car competition.

The team's celebration was delayed by a couple of weeks, after a computer error scored Sacred Hearts Academy as the winner of the 24-school competition March 23 on Ford Island.

When the error was corrected Monday, Kohala finished first with 90.81 points, Sacred Hearts was second at 85.66 and West Hawai'i Explorations Academy was third at 85.4.

Team captain Travis Ching, who fabricated the car's steel body, said the outcome was the result of good teamwork.

"This was all about teamwork and good time management," said the son of a Hawi ranching family who plans to enroll at the University of Hawai'i-Hilo next year before launching a career as a veterinarian and returning to Kohala.

Ching, who competes in high school rodeo and loves hunting and fishing, said a change from last year was shifting the body of the car from aluminum to steel.

Teams built their cars from identical kits provided by HECO, Maui Electric and Hawai'i Electric. Other co-sponsors were the U.S. Navy, the state Department of Education, Young Brothers and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Each team was rated in the categories of car endurance, documentation, oral presentation, construction and safety.

White, the English department chairwoman at the small rural school, took over as coach of the electric car team when another faculty member went on leave. She inherited four returning members of the 2001 state championship team and three newcomers.

White, a well-known horsewoman who has finished in the top 10 internationally in barrel racing, believes she contributed to the electric car effort by asking "dumb questions" of her students. Those questions forced the students to flesh out explanations they would have to relate to the judges.

Principal Catherine Bratt sees the project as a perfect learning tool because it combines different disciplines with a clear focus.

White said she has found the experience so rewarding that she is already recruiting next year's team. Six of this year's champs are seniors.