Bernadette sighed as she scrutinized the high school science project. Tasked with constructing a car that moves using mass, her student Fred produced an ungainly contraption with three wheels and even more pulleys. Everything was mix-matched and mis-colored. Random items like an Altoids container, pencils, and playing cards assembled the odd vehicle. Perhaps meant to be cool or resemble some form of HotWheels car, the project did neither. At least, in comparison to the other students.
She felt bad. As the new student, Fred hadn’t quite found his place in the ninth grade class. The popular girls with their matching short skirts and glitterfied cars thought he was weird. The sports kids with their egos and sport-inspired paint jobs didn’t think he was worthy of any real sport. Which didn’t make much sense since the nerds and chess players thought he was too mysterious and cool to mesh with their futuristic and board game-styled mass contraptions.
As the teacher, she couldn’t make any of them be friends with the bleach-haired, green-eyed newbie, but she sympathized. Bernadette had been the odd one out more times than not, wanting to fit in but never succeeding. It finally took being herself to change the script. That would have to be Fred’s goal, though according to this project, he was a little more wild than she had ever been.
Taking the cars outside to the parking lot, Bernadette reviewed her clipboard. The experiment had been turned into a game in order to get the students more engaged with the material. The car to reach the farthest distance would be the winner, though all cars had to make the minimum distance. Thankfully for her, the parking lot had recently been repaved and was empty of vehicles, meaning it was flat and a perfect track.
Each student took turns bringing their car to the starting line and launching the mechanism that moved their cars. She had personally examined each, her engineering mind predicting the success and failure for each. Larry’s soccer car didn’t have the mass high enough for the right amount of energy to be created. Solid D. Marielle’s green sequined monstrosity was too heavy, meaning her mass didn’t provide enough energy to counteract the car. Sadly, another D. Don’t they test their projects?
After some hiccups, the man-made cars started to hit the benchmark. Suzy’s and Jim’s squeaked past the line, an array of purple glitter and March Madness. Chess player Donnie pulled ahead with his weighted knight while Carrie took first with her blue computer chip looking vehicle.
Now Fred was left. Of course he had to be last with a surname like Wincester. Gripping her clipboard, Bernadette nibbled on the tip of her thumb. A nervous habit she hid from the kids, but she couldn’t help it. Fred’s design was either genius or ridiculous. The proportion, the weight, the construction. She couldn’t discern how this would end and she didn’t want to know. As Fred prepared for launch, she said a small prayer. His grades needed a boost. Every kid in the class was watching. She wanted him to succeed. Needed him to.
He released the weight and the car rolled. With every inch, her heart leaped. The wobbly construction increased speed gradually as it rolled past failed cars. It crossed the benchmark, Bernadette quickly scribbling an A on her grading sheet. The ungainly build slowly stopped behind three other cars that made it further down the stretch. The teacher gave a small clap, overjoyed that it did so well. The perplexed look in his eye killed her excitement. Biting her lip, she contemplated her options. But Fred moved first.
He walked right up to Carrie and congratulated her by shaking her hand. The brunette seemed just as surprised as everyone else. With a flip of her ponytail, she thanked him.
Before Bernadette could say a word, Fred asked, “How’d you get your car to go so far? I thought it would go on forever.”
Head high, Carrie replied, “I’ll show you.”
No coaxing. No prodding. No annoying teacher jargon. Bernadette took a step back as her students were enthralled by Carrie’s scientific process. Including Fred. They weren’t separate groups sharing a class. They were a community excited to learn from each other and grow together. The laughter, the communication, the comradere. It brought tears to her eyes.
Too bad their next assignment was an algebra test.