Students Built Hybrid Sports Car

Talk about audacity. Talk about saving gas with style. Not even Porsche can match what a group of Philadelphia high school students created: an environmentally-friendly car that does zero to 60 in less than five seconds and gets 50 miles per gallon. It even looks James Bond-worthy.

The students worked with teacher Simon Hauger while attending West Philadelphia High School's Academy of Applied Automotive and Mechanical Science. They are credited with creating the world's first high-performance hybrid car. Against all odds, these inner-city students from disadvantaged households dared to enter the Tour de Sol, a national green car competition. In storybook fashion, they won top honors.

But this isn’t just a car story. It’s about teaching and learning.

In interviews, Hauger talks with equal enthusiasm about sports cars as he does about programs that meld vocational and academic learning. You can listen to a 14-minute interview with Hauger here.

Research shows that career and technical education programs can improve students' academic performance and help keep at-risk students from dropping out. Career and workforce readiness programs are a key point in NEA’s Dropout Prevention Plan.

Keeping Hauger's students in school has certainly benefitted the auto industry. As Earth Day (4/22) and $4-a-gallon approach, Detroit automakers could profit by following the example set by our young auto innovators from West Philly.