1000 FEET PROJECT LAUNCHES WITH SOAP BOX DERBY IN QUEENS, NY ON SATURDAY JUNE 13

NEW YORK, NY June 8, 2015 – 1000 Feet Project (www.1000feetproject.org), a newly created charitable organization, will launch a New York City pilot program for soap box derby racing this year, with the intent to expand next year. This year’s pilot program is about just ONE school, Staten Island’s PS 57; ONE mission, to allow all the children who participated in their Gravity Challenge and became enamored with soap box derby racing to have the chance to participate in an official race; and ONE journey, to Akron, Ohio for the AASBD finals! The team from PS 57 will be joined by three “masters” division racers from the Flushing Meadows team on Saturday, June 13 from 10AM until 5 PM on 23rd Avenue at 94th Street, Queens. The event is open to the public and the media and all are encouraged to attend this quintessential summer event to cheer on the racers! There will be food and family activities, a parade and awards ceremonies at conclusion for the winners progressing on to the finals in Akron OH.

The two top racers from the 1000 Feet team will continue onto the finals in Akron from July 19-25. However, they still need your help to build the two cars that will accompany the winners onto Akron. We can all help these bright, motivated children on their GoFundMe page (http://goo.gl/0QyXmN) - they are almost half way there, and as PS 57 student Atinuke says, it’s all about teamwork: “What I really love about 1000 Feet Project and soap box derby racing is that it’s such a coordinated effort. I like that your success, and what you learn from it, is all about teamwork!” Henry Foster, Director of the Flushing Meadows team and race, expands on this: “The goals of the Soap Box Derby are to teach young people some of the basic skills of workmanship, the spirit of competition, and the perseverance to continue a project through to completion.”

While the inaugural year of the 1000 Feet Project’s soap box derby race will revolve around the students of Staten Island’s PS 57, the project’s mission is to expand into as many schools as possible in the NYC region, and then other major cities. Next year, 1000 Feet plans to bring this STEM and soap box racing initiative to more schools in NYC and to mount the first official soap box derby ever in Manhattan. This year’s pilot program has been deemed a great success so far. Science teacher Patricia Lockhart who has led incredible STEM programs at PS 57 for years, says “what’s so amazing about this program is that it brings STEM to life. Our school administration and parents alike really love that educational curriculum is imbedded right into our soap box derby program. It’s not just the thrill of going down the hill, it’s about all the learning that happens throughout the process, in a way that really gets the children motivated and excited.” Lockhart goes on to talk about this year’s iteration of their yearly STEM initiative at PS57, “I knew that this STEM learning initiative through soap box derby had worked when Joseph, David and Emmanuel, on their own and without any input from me, started talking about how they really wanted to get into engineering careers and jobs in renewable energy industries in the future – and they are only in fourth and sixth grade!”

The race in Flushing Meadows, the building of the two additional cars to take to the finals and the AASBD finals in Akron will all be filmed by Director Chris Gale with his executive producer, the award-winning filmmaker Tom Neff. Next year, when the program launches citywide, Chris Gale and Tom Neff will document the progress from start to finish and make the festival circuit in late 2016 into 2017. Year three will see an expansion of the program from NYC to other major cities, bringing with it a STEM program as defined by the National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Education embedded into a fun and exciting all-American competition.

“Our mission,” says Gale, “is to build knowledge and character, and to create meaningful experiences through collaboration and fair and honest competition.”

PRESS CONTACTS:

Carina Sayles 

Sayles & Winnikoff Communications 

(212) 725-5200 ext. 210 (646) 345-9699

Carina@sayleswinnikoff.com