Sentinel file photo
Students at the Mifflin County Academy of Science and Technology will have the opportunity to collaborate on a project to build an electric vehicle.

LEWISTOWN — Students at the Mifflin County Academy of Science and Technology in Lewistown will return to school this fall with a new kind of project waiting for them in the shop bays — one that hums instead of rumbles.

The Academy has been awarded $83,594 through Pennsylvania’s Competitive Equipment Grant program, placing it among just 54 schools statewide selected for funding that supports high-priority, industry-aligned equipment purchases.

The grant will be used to purchase a build-from-scratch electric vehicle kit, a hands-on project that will bring together four of the Academy’s programs in a way Administrative Director Laura Hicks says reflects the school’s mission.

“We applied for an electric vehicle kit,” Hicks said during a recent Operating Committee meeting at the Academy. “What that means is it’ll basically come in pieces and will be a collaborative project between Mechatronics, welding, collision repair and automotive.”

The kit is expected to arrive over the summer, giving instructors time to prepare before students return in August. Once classes begin, the project will move quickly from crates and components to a fully assembled, drivable electric vehicle. The finished product will be slightly larger than a go-kart, designed for instructional use rather than road licensing, but fully functional and capable of demonstrating the same systems found in modern EVs.

Hicks said the kit’s built-in curriculum is one of the most valuable parts of the purchase. The package includes multiple instructional modules that guide students through assembly, electrical systems, diagnostics, fabrication and long-term maintenance. Once the vehicle is built, the curriculum continues, allowing the Academy to use the EV as a teaching tool for years.

“It comes with its own curriculum, so once they are done with it, they’ll have a curriculum they can use after they build it,” Hicks explained. “There will be an actual electric vehicle, which will be a little bigger than a go-kart kind of size. So it will be fully functional. We’re excited about that opportunity.”

The project will require students from four programs to work side by side, mirroring the kind of interdisciplinary teamwork common in today’s manufacturing and automotive industries.

Mechatronics students will handle wiring, sensors and control systems. Automotive technology students will focus on drivetrain, steering, braking and diagnostics. Collision repair students will support bodywork, alignment and finishing. Welding students will fabricate and reinforce the frame and mounting points.

“Once they are done with the kit, this will actually be a drivable vehicle,” Hicks said. “Obviously not a licensed on-the-road vehicle, but it comes with a curriculum package that will have several instructional models within it to support not only putting the kit together, but using it for teaching for several years.”

For Hicks, the project represents something deeper than a new piece of equipment.

“You know my biggest push since I’ve been with Mifflin County has been collaboration,” she said. “This is an opportunity to get real world experience on a technology that has only begun to scratch the surface on innovation.”

The Competitive Equipment Grant is designed for school districts and career and technical centers with eight or more PDE-approved CTE programs. Funds must be used to update or purchase equipment that prepares students for high-priority occupations and industry standards. For the Academy, the EV kit fits squarely into that mission. Electric vehicle technology continues to expand across the automotive sector, and technicians with EV experience are increasingly in demand.

For students at the Academy, the EV project offers access to training that is typically found in larger metropolitan programs. It also gives them a chance to work on technology that is reshaping the transportation and manufacturing industries.

The build will begin as soon as students return in the fall. Instructors expect the project to draw interest from across the building, not only because of the novelty of constructing an electric vehicle, but because of the teamwork required to complete it. Hicks said that sense of shared purpose is exactly what she hoped to cultivate.

“This is real world experience,” she said. “Students will be working with technology that is only beginning to scratch the surface of innovation. They’ll be learning skills that employers are already asking for.”

When the final bolt is tightened and the vehicle rolls across the shop floor under its own power, it will stand as a symbol of what collaboration can build — and a sign of where the Academy is headed as it prepares students for the future of work.

Supplemental grants

The Academy was also listed among regional recipients of the Supplemental Equipment Grant, which supports equipment purchases across multiple districts and career and technical centers.

The Academy, which is owned and operated by the Mifflin County School District; Midd-West School District; Juniata County School District; and Mount Union Area School District were included in the most recent round of awards.