Kings of the Build… Carter County school team collects third straight title over the weekend
Published 12:22 am Tuesday, February 25, 2020
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StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
The Carter County School team, consisting of students from all four of the county high schools, are now the three-time champions of the “Battle of the Build” competition after claiming the trophy again this year. They also won this year’s Ingenuity, LLC online most “Popular Vote Award” and the Design and Drawing Award.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
Car-B-Que is the Carter County School entry in the 2020 “Battle of the Build” held inside the Mini-Dome on the campus of East Tennessee State University.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
Hampton High School’s Heather Grindstaff (L) discusses the Carter County School’s entry, Car-B-Que, into this year’s “Battle of the Build” with one of the many different attendees that was held inside the Mini-Dome on the campus of East Tennessee State University.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
Hampton High School’s Nick Swiney points out that this year's entry into the 2020 “Battle of the Build”, Car-B-Que, is built into the front half of the chassis of a 1972 Volkswagen Super Beetle to one of the many admirers of Carter County’s entry inside the Mini-Dome on the campus of East Tennessee State University.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
Hampton High School's James Holland explains some of the many features of Carter County School’s entry, Car-B-Que, into this year's Battle of the Build held inside the Mini-Dome on the campus of East Tennessee State University to Dr. Amy Banner the yearbook sponsor at Hampton High.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
Hampton High School's James Holland stands ready to answer questions about the Carter County School entry, Car-B-Que, into this year's Battle of the Build held inside the Mini-Dome on the campus of East Tennessee State University.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR STAFF
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
What does one get when they take an old 1972 VW Super Beetle, a brand new propane-gas grill, and a handful of Carter County’s brightest and creative students?
The answer is a simple one – a three-time reigning champion in the annual Battle of the Builds that takes place inside the Mini-Dome on the campus of East Tennessee State Univerity as part of the Johnson City Home Builders Home Show.
That’s not bad considering the event is only in its third year of existence and the Carter County School’s team has won each year since its inception and to be selected by five judges from the National Home Builders who weren’t even from the areas is even more impressive.
“There were between 15 to 20 students who have worked on the project at any given time and what makes it even more impressive is that each student has to be on the same page so they can answer questions about the project from anyone,” said Hampton Architectural and Engineering teacher Daniel Arnett.
“We started in September and have put in a cumulative 830 hours on this project. We started actually working on the car in January and February.”
Students and instructors from all four county schools put their heads and creative hands together in pulling off the Car-B-Que project which features the front portion of a 1972 VW Super Beetle that was purchased from a local junkyard and fabricated, painted, welded, and presented by the students during the weekend’s event.
Arnett’s class did the drawings and presentations on the project while Cloudland High’s welding instructor Sam Potter and his class were responsible for the welding.
James Monroe’s class from Happy Valley was responsible for the wiring while Scotty Johnson’s class from Unaka did the bodywork repairing the body and finally giving the project its final paint job.
Arnett said that the project couldn’t have been completed without the assistance of local Lowe’s manager Shane Case and his managerial team as well as the community.
“We actually were just going to try and get the parts and controls that we needed and Shane and his team graciously gave us the propane grill that we used,” Arnett said.
“The kids did a presentation to them about the project and Shane offered them all a job when they turned 18 years old. There was a lot of hard work that went into this project.”
The Lowe’s team has assisted the Carter County team for the last two years and is phenomenal to work with according to Arnett.
There were nine teams competing in the contest and each team was responsible for dressing their booth up and answering questions from those in attendance about their projects that were on display.
Being on the same page was something that Arnett said was critical to the outcome of the competition.
When all was said and done, the team not only was selected as the overall winner by the five judges but also won the popular vote as voted on by FaceBook visitors who viewed the projects on social media as well as those who were in attendance who voted via paper ballots.
The additional recognition gave the students an additional $250 bonus for being selected by the popular vote.
The win shows what can happen when all the Carter County schools come together for the same cause and work together with the same goal.
