Skid Monster Teaches Kids Control Behind The Wheel

Chuck Filippini’s car once hit black ice and pinwheeled out of control.

The North Central High driver’s education instructor leapt from the mouth of disaster, safely slamming into a roadside snowbank outside of Selkirk.

But he hopes to teach his students how to avoid such accidents and, with the purchase of a $3,500 contraption called the Skid Monster, he has a unique teacher’s aid.

Rather than explain how to steer on black ice, Filippini uses the machine, which attaches onto the back of a regular car and simulates the chaos.

“When you get into an emergency situation, it’s all instinct,” said Filippini. “We’re taking this from a classroom situation to a real life situation.”

All District 81 students will get a spin in the Skid Monster on May 3 at the Spokane Community College parking lot. Filippini helped the district get the machine through a $10,000 grant from Safeco Insurance Co. The rest of the money is being spent on text books for parents of driver’s education students, according to Filippini.

Teaching students how to control skids usually requires special facilities or unpredictable situations, like iced parking lots.

The Skid Monster replaces the rear tires of a car with two small wheels that can spin freely. When released, the wheels send the car into a wild spin.

Driver instructors can control the spin with the flick of a switch. One moment, you’re coasting comfortably at 20 mph; the next, you’re backwards.

“Going one mile per hour too fast, we can show a teenager that they can’t control the car,” said Fred Mattola, professor of public health at Southern Connecticut State University and inventor of the Skid Monster.

Parents can appreciate that. “I have a 16-year-old with a driver’s license, and I’m wondering about putting him back through driver’s education,” said Superintendent Gary Livingston.

Technology, philanthropy triumph

Brandon Biggs must use a cane and braille books because of his failing sight, but philanthropy by the North Suburban Lions Club has allowed the Mead 5-year-old access to a computer.

A $900 donation enabled Mead School District to buy special software that translates key stokes into sounds, allowing Brandon to hear words and sounds.

With the software, Brandon’s home computer runs programs like “Millie’s Math House” and “Sammy’s Science House.” Brandon’s home computer, a Macintosh Performa, was donated by Easter Seals.

“Computer technology is imperative to ensure Brandon has a future comparable to his sighted peers,” wrote Gloria Messer, a Mead teacher for the visually impaired, in a letter to the Lion’s club.

Comet inspires smiles

It’s spawned poems and paranoia, songs and suicides.

The comet Hale-Bopp has also inspired Ginny Gould’s second-grade class at Lidgerwood Elementary.

After tracking it for 10 days - and, like the rest of us, getting entranced - 7-year-old Lizzy Briggs wrote this: “Hale-Bopp is a wonderful comet. I saw it two days ago with my family. I kept track of it with my brain. My dad let me use his binoculars to look at the comet. But, they were out of focus. I will look tonight and find out where it was and where it is now. Remember, look up and find Hale-Bopp and you will be amazed and you will go to sleep with great dreams!”

Mentor program needs sponsor

A $7,500 check allows Gonzaga University to continue a mentorship program with Logan and Stevens Elementary youths.

But the grant can’t ensure the unique social co-op will resume next year.

“We are still looking for a corporate sponsor,” said Gonzaga’s Sima Thorpe.

The program matches GU students with troubled elementary students and helps them foster close relationships. The state Higher Education Coordinating Board considers it a model program and the Spokane School District is considering expanding it to other schools.

There is no shortage of willing college students; 180 showed up at an orientation, vying for the 45 volunteer positions.

Shadle senior wins contest

Aubrey M. Bruneau, a senior at Shadle Park High School, recently took first place in the American Legion State High School Oratorical Contest.

Bruneau won the competition held in Seattle with a short speech entitled, “The Importance of the Constitution.” She also gave an extemporaneous talk on the Constitution.

So far, she has won a $1,250 scholarship and will be eligible for an additional $1,500 scholarship when she competes in the national oratorical contest April 11-13 at Indianapolis.

Bruneau is planning to attend the University of Washington this fall.

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MEMO: If you have news about an interesting program or activity at a North Side school or about the achievements of North Side students, teachers or school staff, please let us know. Deadline is Monday. Write: Jonathan Martin, Education Notebook, North Side Voice, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. E-mail: jonathanm@spokesman.com. Call: 459-5484. Fax: 459-5482.