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MLK students race derby cars, meet Browns running back
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Cook, left, races his Pinewood Derby car with fourth-graders at the school. The boys made and decorated the cars as part of Scoutreach.
MLK Elementary students race cars, meet Browns running back
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Second- and fourth- grade boys at Martin Luther King Elementary School raced their Pinewood Derby cars down a steep track in the school gymnasium to see whose was the fastest.
The boys made and decorated the cars from 5-ounce blocks of wood as part of Scoutreach, a program of the Greater Western Reserve Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
The program goes into inner-city schools, bringing Scouting to boys who otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to it. The program is offered in schools in Youngstown and Warren.
Affordability and transportation challenges often prevent inner-city boys from being involved in Scouting, said Kathy Hankey, Scoutreach program coordinator.
“This uniform shirt — they can’t afford that,” she said during an event Tuesday at the school. “And transportation — they often don’t have someone who can take them back and forth to meetings.”
The program exposes the boys to Scouting activities, including science experiments, while they’re at school.
“There’s no cost to the school or the students,” said John Barkett, volunteer vice president of community service for the Greater Western Reserve Council.
Local sponsors, the United Way of Youngstown and Mahoning County and United Way of Trumbull County, Cafaro Family Foundation, James and Carol Bacon Charitable Trust Fund and Farmers National Bank, fund the projects.
Hankey said the program stresses discipline, respect and citizenship.
Jamaine Cook, former Youngstown State University running back who now plays that position for the Cleveland Browns, participated in the derby, offering students advice.
Cook, who is finishing his accounting degree at YSU, told the students to remember three things: respect, education and hard work.
“Respect your parents; respect your teachers and your friends,” he said. “It’s all about building good relationships.”
While many in a group of fourth-graders told him they too want to play in the NFL, Cook encouraged them to focus on their education as a first priority.
“Education is going to take you further than any sport,” he said.
You need hard work to be successful in anything, Cook told students.
When it came time to race their cars, Jarell Franklin, Jon’Trell Mixon and Brandon Lott, all 10, were first up.
In two of the three rounds, each taking a turn on each of three side-by-side tracks, Jon’Trell’s car came in first. He says he won the third race too, narrowly edging out Jarell’s vehicle. Jarell insists it was a tie.
Jon’Trell decked out his car in Pittsburgh Steelers decor, using black and yellow markers to make it his own. Brandon, while a Denver Broncos fan, tricked his car out in Seattle Seahawks colors.
Jarell likes both the Broncos and the Seahawks so he emblazoned both teams’ names on his car, as well as WWE on the back, indicating his appreciation of the World Wrestling Entertainment.
Besides the Pinewood Derby, the boys said they each earned a bobcat necklace through Scoutreach.
“It’s metal, like Army dog tags,” Jon’Trell explained.
Brandon said they earned the necklaces by learning the Akela, to follow the pack leader. They also learned the Cub Scout Motto and Cub Scout Promise.