A record 34 edible cars were created for the 18th annual Illinois Valley Community College Edible Car Contest. Computer Design Program Coordinator Dorene Data hosted the contest. The cars raced on a downward track to see who would make it to the bottom the fastest. Data says students can learn a lot from building the car to having it go down a ramp.
One of the lessons from this year’s contest wasn’t for the students at all. The engineering students learned a lesson about the new track they built to use this year. Data says it wasn’t used because it couldn’t fit through the door.
There were several winning schools including Ottawa High School. Students won three categories including best designed best car built from the high school category. Streator High School won the most creative award and students from JFK Middle School won most nutritious car. For the first time in the contest’s history a teacher won the contest. DePue High School Business Teacher Barry Gilstrap won the best car category and set the best time ever recorded in the contest. His record was .64 seconds down the ramp.
Students watch their car go down the ramp to see if it can beat the best time.
CAD Program Coordinator Dorene Data and one of the students watches one of the edible cars go down the ramp.