Woodbury Community Library is pleased to announce that we received a $1,000.00 grant from Vermont Humanities Council to support our next collaborative project with Woodbury Elementary School, “Dirt Tracks & Thunder Roads: History and Stories of Auto Racing in Vermont.”
This project will explore a subject that is popular in our community but not traditionally featured in the library or school—auto racing. The project will be based primarily in the 5th & 6th Grade Class of teacher Lindsey Benton, over a period of seven weeks during the months of February and March 2024. Ms. Benton will implement a theme-based curriculum in Art, Science, Math, Literacy, and Public Speaking using lesson plans related to auto racing and its local history.
Imagine a student grappling with grammar, writing a story in which their Grandmother wins Daytona 500 in a photo finish. Or a student mastering math, readily applying the formula for calculating the area of an ellipse (A = Pi * a/2 * b/2), to determine the size of the infield at Indianapolis Speedway. Or a student shyly speaking in front of the class, boldly speaking behind the microphone while simulating a broadcast of the Milk Bowl at Thunder Road.
To reinforce these lessons, the Vermont Humanities grant will fund a class-based weekly workshop conducted by professional Artist-Teacher Leif Goldberg. The workshop—focused on storytelling through audio, visual, and written expression—will complement the class’ interconnected learning projects based in Art, Science, Math, Literacy, and Public Speaking.
The project will be further strengthened by the participation of Woodbury resident and author—and former Library Director, Town Lister, and current Justice of the Peace—Merry Gangemi, who will work along with Leif Goldberg and help students to write and edit their own graphic short stories on the subject of auto racing.
As the first step in creating these stories, students will identify all the activities and jobs involved in auto racing: car designer, driver, mechanic, pit crew, race officials, medical staff, broadcasting, transport, etc. Next, students will choose a job and create a fictional character who learns, trains, and acquires skills associated with the job. For example, a student may create a fictional driver who researches (as the student also researches) the physics of the racetrack to improve their racing technique; or a medic who learns about sports medicine to aid injured drivers on the track.
Next, students will combine the stories of their characters at work to create a main story involving all the students and all the characters. The story will be told in the form of a radio broadcast, with two announcers interviewing the characters and asking questions about their education, training, and skills. These recorded interviews and other dialogue created by the students will be finished in the form of a podcast. Additionally, each student will use the dialogue they’ve written for their character, to create a multi-panel graphic comic of their character at work. These comics will be combined and printed as a single booklet that each student can take home.
Along the way, to enrich the students’ research, they will listen to part of an authentic radio broadcast of a race; watch a video history of Thunder Road; and host a guest speaker from the community who will share their personal experience in auto racing.
To further support the project, the Library will feature complementary books and resources, and seek to facilitate other guest speakers and teachers who have experience or skills related to racing. This project will extend the enduring collaboration between the Library and School which remain close in purpose, practice, and proximity—separated by a distance of only 43 feet, or in the view of a student, the width of a swing set.
Finally, at the end of the workshop, and upon completion of the class’s projects, the students will display their works at an Open House event organized by the Library. This event will be open to the public, featuring refreshments and a guest speaker.
In essence, this project seeks to engage students, and expand and strengthen our community; to inspire in us all the pursuit of lifelong learning; and to understand and appreciate what we value, and how we value each other, within our own backyard.
• Supported in part by the Vermont Humanities Council. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Vermont Humanities. •
Some titles that we have added to support this project:
The Science of Supercars “What powers the greatest cars in the world? How did we get from the crude mechanics of yesteryear to the high-tech, computer-aided designs we see today? Which cars broke the mold? This is the definitive story of the science behind the cars of our dreams. Featuring in-depth interviews with the top names in the supercar and racing industries, The Science of Supercars unravels the mysteries and mechanics of the cars that changed the automotive world forever.””– Provided by publisher.
Built for speed : world’s fastest road cars.
Car Science “An under-the-hood, behind-the-dash look at how cars work”
Cars engines that move you “From oddball inventors tinkering in their grages to global corporations, learn where cars came from and how they work. When you pop the hood, what are you looking at? How does gasoline–or an electric battery, or even steam–make a car move? Rev your motor and see how cars have impacted billions of people and the world around us. Vroom, vroom!”
The Car, Paulsen Gary A teenager left on his own travels west in a kit car he built himself, and along the way picks up two Vietnam veterans, who take him on an eye-opening journey.
Some titles in the collection that we want to highlight:
Electric Dreams One Unlikely Team of Kids and The Race To Build The Car Of The Future by Caroline Kettlewell
Truck, A Love Story by Michael Perry
Humphrey’s Really Wheely Racing Day by Beatrice G. Birney
Cars on Mars, Roving The Red Planet by Alexandra Siy
The Old Truck by Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey
Resources From Vt. Historical Society
A need for speed : a brief history of the sport of auto racing in Vermont / story by Amanda Gustin ; photos courtesy of the Vermont Historical Society.
This brief overview of the history of automobile racing in Vermont begins with the earliest race in St. Johnsbury at the Caledonia County Fair in September of 1903, taking us through the continued racing of today. Mentioned are drivers, racetracks that came and went (and those operating today), race callers, and legal issues that arose from racing in the 1950’s. Historic photos accompany the article.
The checkered flag : [a novel] / Bev Stearns
“Stacy Porter arrives at Catamount Stadium wondering what will happen to him here. After dealing with a stormy and lonely past where he was blamed for an accident he didn’t cause, he hopes that by coming to Vermont he will find peace, and hopefully, friendships with the racers. Instead of these things though, he finds two brothers, family members of the man he was accused of trying to destroy. While one brother is non-combative, the other is not. From day one Jerry Daron does all he can to make life miserable for Stacy”
To beat the beaver / by William S. Ladabouche.
Biography of Harmon “Beaver” Dragon.
Students at Woodbury Elementary School interviewed race car driver, Joel Hodgdon
| Update from Leif Goldberg Fifth and Sixth grade students at Woodbury Elementary School have been creating their own characters, each taking on a different job or role at a race track (Thunder Road). The primary work so far has involved learning about auto racing and all the roles at the race track, and following prompts and writing exercises to develop their characters. They have filled out a “character sheet” with name, age, education, abilities, challenges, a short biography and drawn portraits. They have also written about a significant event that has shaped their character. Today, we focused on making connections between everybody’s characters and started writing an overarching story together as a group. Next Monday (March 18) we hope to refine this story and break it down into sections that individuals can write about on their own. There will be a focus on dialogue at this point, for this is all a means to the end result of creating a collaborative graphic novel and audio play. We plan on getting into drawing and audio recording by March 25 and finishing up the week of April 1. |
This is the last week for Leif going into the class. Students should be finishing their graphic novel chapters and he will be recording their voices, and compiling and editing to put everything together. |
Woodbury Community Library 
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