The Sardis Secondary School trades program has officially stamped its claim as one of the best in Western Canada.
The program – overseen by head of shops and auto teacher Ryan Goodman, drafting and design teacher Chad Hipwell and metal shop teacher Darren Jones – was in Merritt at the end of May for the Edison Motors High School Go-Kart Challenge, with Sardis Secondary coming in first place for best car in Western Canada.
“This was the first real collaborative project that our department has worked through,” said Goodman. “We had a lot of fun building it, and due to lots of other excellent builds, we were surprised to take first place.”
The competition was put on by Edison Motors, a privately owned Canadian Clean Technology Company with extensive research into the future of electric vehicles. Edison Motors purchased roughly 30 go-kart kits containing axles, brakes and batteries, and sent them to various high schools, with the schools responsible for designing and fabricating their own go-karts.
“We got involved when word got out on our shop teacher Facebook page,” said Goodman. “We applied to Edison and got the same kit supplied to all the other schools.”
Over 20 of the 30 schools given kits showed up to the Merritt Rodeo Grounds, where go-karts were put to the test in multiple challenges including a sled pull, barrel race, and timed trials on high-speed and off-road autocross courses. There was also a final teacher’s race to end the day.
The schools had a four-hour window where they were able to take part in any of the events as many times as they wanted. Edison had mechanics and a welder on-site with many of the go-karts needing some minor-to-moderate repairs throughout the afternoon.
Sardis’ creation was by far the most successful. On top of taking home an overall first place, it was recognized as one of the best-designed karts at the event, while also finishing second place in the final teacher’s race.
“This event offered an incredible opportunity for the students to work through the design process within a computer model, to the communication back and forth between manufacturing and design, and a real-world experience with materials science and engineering,” said Goodman.
“We are already making plans for next year.”
The Sardis trades program has been running at the school for many years with both Goodman and Hipwell Sardis grads themselves.
