Harlem United F1 team talks at Northern

Harlem United, a team of students and a teacher who became the first Native American and first Montana team to win an award at the International F1 in Schools world championship, spoke Sunday about their experience during a workshop in Montana State University-Northern's Student Union Building Ballroom.

The Harlem team competed in the 2016 International F1 in Schools world competition in Austin, Texas. Harlem United was the only U.S. team to win a trophy in Austin, for Judge's Choice. The judge's selected Harlem United as the team that had the most impact on them and that they felt had come the furthest. The team also was nominated for the Women in Motorsports Award.

Students from 14 Montana high schools including Frazer, Heart Butte, Hot Springs and Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation were at the workshop at Northern Sunday, learning about the F1 in Schools program and technology used to design, build and race miniature F-1 cars.

They used technologies such as 3-D printing and design software to make the cars.

"What can I say but that you guys should be so proud of them because they represented Montana and they represented the United States," said Mary Ellen Earnhardt, education program representative with the Montana Office of Public Instruction.  

At the international competition students had to race 8-inch long and 3-inch wide F1 cars powered by CO2 cartridges down a 65-foot track.

Harlem United was one of three teams from the U.S. among 39 teams from 23 countries to take part in the competition this year.  

Damon Adams, a Harlem senior and the team's design engineer, was also offered a scholarship from Texas A&M University for his work.

Adams said that he has not decided whether to apply, but that he would like to study mechanical engineering.

"It was a really good feeling afterwards to know that all of our hard work paid off," said Jazzamyn Benson, a senior at Harlem High and the team's project manager.  

Harlem United was started two years ago, and the team has gone on to win state championships two years in a row and came in third in nationals this year, qualifying them for the international competition.

The team had to raise $41,000 through the summer to pay for the trip.

Craig Todd, a shop teacher at Harlem High and an advisor to the group, said they created a marketing plan which they pitched to state and local businesses

In all, Harlem United had 10 sponsors.

The program taught the students much more than racing, they said. They also were able to meet students from other cultures including Jordan, Spain, Germany and Mexico.

"At the world finals there was 23 different countries, and I've never really talked to anyone from other countries personally, so we got to learn bout what they did in their country, their culture where they came from," Benson said.

It has also changed the students, they said.

Benson, who did a lot of public speaking as the group's project manager, said she is now thinking of going into a career involving communications.

"I think, maybe, because when I first started high school I wanted to be a nurse, but during this program I realized that that is not really my calling I guess," said Benson, who said her skills have improved greatly as a public speaker.

Though they all said it was worth it, the students said taking part in the F1 program was time-consuming, especially because the work students did had to be done on weekends and after school.

"It's so much work you have to go to school, then you have to go to football practice and then you have to go to F1 at night and then you have to go home and do our homework and then go to school and do it the next day." Adams said.