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Springwood School has a new team to root for. On Saturday, the middle school debuted its Greenpower racing team at the 7th annual Diverse Power Grand Prix at KIA Assembly Plant in West Point. 

The team placed seven of 14 cars in the stock division during their inaugural race. The 2025 Grand Prix was Georgia’s largest-ever Greenpower race, with 500 students participating. 

The showing is impressive, considering it is the first official race for the team. However, it is even more impressive as the team didn’t think they would even get to compete this season.

The School received a grant through the Charter Foundation to start a middle school team. However, with no coach going into the school year and the car waiting to ship in England, the first season looked to be postponed. Then, it all came together. Ashley Vaughan, a STEAM teacher, stepped up to take on the Greenpower class and coach the team. The car arrived in October, and the students got to work. 

“We put it together as quick as we could…we managed to pull it off, but it took a lot of hard work and support from the community that helped donate some things and to really [allow] us to actually race,” Vaughan said. 

There are eleven seventh and eighth-grade students on the inaugural team. Many comprise the pit crew, which handles the maintenance and upkeep of the cars as well as the actual driving. They also have a PR committee that chronicles the team and helps with fundraising and promotional efforts. 

“It was a learning experience for all of us,” Vaughan laughed. “We are given a very simple building instruction book. But as far as everything else is, we have to do the research and pretty much figure it out ourselves,” she said. 

Vaughan said the group was nervous going into the largest competition in state history as their first outing. However, once the first heat was done the team settled in. 

The STEAM teacher said they didn’t know what to expect from the Greenpower community, with the sport still in its infancy. The Wildcats found that local teams, like Long Cane Middle, were eager to help build and improve the program. 

Vaughan said, “The whole Greenpower program, anybody involved in it, they’re all supportive of each other because, at the end of the day, we just want the kids to have fun and learn, so we offer support for each other. It was pretty amazing.”

Race day exemplified the comradery of Greenpower. 

“During the race, we lost a screw in our brake system and a kid from Troup High overheard us talking about it and he said, ‘I’ve got one. I’ll be right back.’ And he came right over and fixed it immediately for us. So, I mean, it’s just, it’s a pretty awesome community,” Vaughan said. 

Greenpower is a sport, but it is, first and foremost, an educational program. The students have a regular class to learn about the ins and outs of racing, both as a practice and a study. Vaughan said that in order to compete in races, they have to take tests and complete assignments related to Greenpower.

“[Greenpower racing] provides a lot of hands-on, engaging learning. Not only are we teaching [students] how to problem solve and critical thinking and the process of building, but we also have a presentation that we have to create, which is 50% of our scores,” Vaughan explained. “For this last race that we had, we had to create a two-page story reporting as a news reporter, explaining our process of building the car, how the team has worked to work together, and any, anything, any conflicts that we’ve had to overcome.”

While their first full season won’t be until next year, the future is bright for the Wildcats. Most of her students are returning next year, said Vaughan. She hopes to recruit more high schoolers so they can have a team of their own next season. 

The team hopes to participate in the final race of the season in Talladega in May. 

“None of the teams could do it without support from the community…Even from the kid’s point of view of just seeing that ‘oh my gosh, all these people have come out to help us pull it off together’,” said Vaughan. “Today, we spent time writing thank you notes. It was pretty neat to see what the kids wrote on the notes, showing that they really appreciate that help.”