[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 98 (Thursday, June 15, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1263]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


            A SALUTE TO ENERGY RESEARCH IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS

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                          HON. JAMES T. WALSH

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 15, 1995
  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to commend a schoolteacher in my 
home district who has done a quite remarkable thing. He has led a team 
of high school students who built a solar-powered vehicle to become 
national winners of the 1995 American Tour de Sol for the best student 
car in the open class presented by the U.S. Department of Energy.
  The teacher is Earl Billings, technology instructor at Cato-Meridian 
High School, a 340-student school in Cato, NY. The accomplishments 
don't start with the 1995 Tour de Sol title. I will list a few others 
in a moment. But I don't want the most important point to be lost here. 
That point is, research into the future is being done in our schools. 
It is being done all over America, in rural communities such as Cato as 
well as in larger cities where universities and foundations often 
support student teams in research the use of solar power in the future 
and other important projects.
  And, once again, a teacher is at the helm, is the inspiration, is the 
guiding force--not only by giving instruction but by leading, by 
communicating, by relating. By planting seeds of self-worth and pride 
and by literally building something tangible from something abstract--
an idea.
  Today is Earl Billings Day in Cayuga County, as proposed by County 
Legislator Ralph Stanbrook, a true civic leader with whom I have worked 
on several community projects. In recognizing Mr. Billings, we both 
hope to once again draw attention to what is good in American schools--
and to give credit where it is due.
  And in this instance it is most definitely due.
  Mr. Billings teaches a course entitled Energy, a subject which has 
been identified by the New York State Education Department as a highly 
important area of learning for high school students. Forms of energy 
are discussed, and their relation to our environment is presented. To 
get the C-M students more interested, Mr. Billings proposed the class 
take on the ambitious goal of designing, constructing, and testing a 
full-size, solar-powered electric vehicle.
  That was in 1990, and what began as a teaching tool quickly came to 
be an unusual nonclassroom success story for the students and their 
vehicle, Sunpacer.
  Sponsored by the North East Sustainable Energy Association from May 
22 to May 26, the 1995 American Tour de Sol ran from Waterbury, CT, to 
Portland, ME, a total of 330 miles through five States. Sunpacer 
finished first in its division.
  Winning was not new for the team. Students from Cato-Meridian have 
been racing Sunpacer since 1991. That is when they first qualified for 
the Tour de Sol but had to pull out to honor an earlier commitment to 
show the vehicle at a New York State event. That event represented 
their third-place ranking out of 750 projects submitted to the Student 
Energy Research Competition that year.
  They were back in the Tour de Sol in 1992 to win the national 
championship; in 1993 they placed third and in 1994 they placed second 
before regaining the national title this year.
  As outlined by Mr. Billings, there were five goals, among them to 
``help reduce the millions of barrels of oil we use daily''; to 
heighten public awareness of electric vehicles; to show that if high 
school kids can build a solar-powered car, business can; to develop 
student skills in critical thinking, problem solving, research, and 
engineering; and, listed No. 1 on the important goal list, ``I wanted 
to excite my students about energy.''
  I join the Cayuga County Legislature in saluting Mr. Earl Billings 
today. I encourage him to continue with this project and I congratulate 
him on excelling in his chosen profession.
  I might add that I will look for Earl Billings and the students who 
work on the 1996 Tour de Sol next May. The planned route starts in New 
York City and ends right here in the Nation's capital, Washington, DC.
  Best of luck to all the students involved with this fascinating and 
productive project.


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