PRESIDIO — Students in Presidio ISD’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs have a lot to celebrate this week as the high school’s Solar Car Challenge team returns victorious from a great week at the Texas Motor Speedway. The students — who have spent months building from scratch and fine-tuning a small car powered by solar panels — placed seventh in their division and reported a smooth run.
Presidio High School is known for excellence in its extracurricular programs, and the Solar Car Challenge is no exception. The kids blend traditional shop skills like welding and wiring with engineering know-how — and learn a lot about teamwork along the way.
Each July, the team packs up and heads to the Texas Motor Speedway on the fringe of the DFW metroplex. Judges evaluate the vehicle for a chance to participate in the final event, which is a days-long run of laps around the track. “We didn’t break down,” said coach and CTE instructor Jesus Zubia. “We had very few issues.”
This year’s performance marked a redemption arc from last year, when the team’s car experienced chronic problems leading up to the big day. Then the competition they’d stressed over so much was canceled at the last minute, thanks to a COVID outbreak among the competition’s judges.
It’s Zubia’s third year leading the program, and he hopes to see exponential progress in the years to come. The students have started working with more sophisticated software and electrical designs and are starting to learn how to build their own parts. The parts are key –– the squat vehicle looks like a cross between a bumper car and a UTV. “You don’t find two-inch wheels at AutoZone,” Zubia explained. “They don’t have the right electronic devices at Harper [Hardware].”
Next year, he hopes to start working on a new car at the start of the school year, having one for demonstration purposes and another for the actual competition. Summer 2025’s challenge will be modeled on the World Solar Challenge, which takes world-class racers across the Australian Outback. Instead of kangaroos and wombats, the kids will be racing through roadrunners and dust devils –– the finish line will be in Marfa.
Presidio High School is at an economic disadvantage to many of the other teams, who have easier access to cash and university-level engineers. But Zubia doesn’t think that’s a liability –– the kids become much more self-sufficient and know their design down to each and every bolt. “My students are building it from scratch,” he said. “They’re doing the design, they’re doing the welding, they’re doing the cuts, they’re doing the engineering. I see that more as an advantage.”
In addition to the mechanical and engineering skills it requires, there’s a major mental and emotional learning curve. The students learn to communicate with the media, which for many means becoming more comfortable public speaking in English. They learn patience, empathy and respect, helping other teams with breakdowns and malfunctions.
Above all, the students learn to perform under pressure. “Building the car is the easy part,” Zubia said.