In an effort to raise awareness about the importance, excitement, and ease of electric vehicles, Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, MD, hosted its first Electric Car show on Friday May 3rd, 2019. Organized by Russell Corbin, a student and member of EVADC, in partnership with the school administration and the science department, the event was held during lunch and was met with a great and positive response throughout the school community.
Around 150 students, teachers and staff came out to the event. A fair number of those students were completing an extra credit assignment for their AP Environmental Science class. The students engaged seamlessly interacting with the EV owners, asking questions about their cars and the EV lifestyle.
In addition to the assignment as a method to bring students to the event, a video advertisement was played daily on the morning announcements the week prior to the event, and flyers for the event were hung throughout the school. Here’s the link for the video: https://youtu.be/C48PCC8_LnQ
Thanks to the support of the EVA DC and school community, we had a total of 14 EVs from 7 different manufacturers, including two cars and owners from the school community. Models included a Tesla Roadster, 2 Tesla Model X, Smart ED, 3 Tesla Model 3, Kia Soul EV, BMW i3, Nissan Leaf, Fiat 500e, and 2 Chevy Volt.
At the end of the event, the school principal took time to sit in almost every car and talk to each owner and expressed a serious interest in hosting a similar event next year. All in all, the event succeeded in educating the Richard Montgomery community about the benefits of electric vehicles. Although Russell is headed to LA for college in the fall, he hopes to continue advocating for EVs there, and hopes this event will continue in the future at Richard Montgomery and at many other high schools.
Richard Montgomery HS students explore 14 Electric Vehicles
Students learn from a long time Electric Vehicle owner