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3d pinewood derby car made from Sketchup Pro model download

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CheffoJeffo:
I have parents like that in my groups and to those families I hand out two kits -- "Jimmy, this one is for you to make" -- "Jimmy's Dad, this one is for you to make".

Who gives a crap what the other *parents* think ? 

It's the feelings of the other kids that matter and are being ignored by the "let me do that for you" crowd.

EDIT: Ironically, there were two mostly-parent-made entries this year -- one was made by the husband of another leader and she was the one who insisted, sometimes excessively, that the kids do the work. The other was a car that I made for a new Cub who had just joined and wouldn't have had a car to race (and I made sure that it wasn't a work of art, but rather consistent with the cars built by other kids ... which wasn't a problem because my carving skills aren't really there).

ChadTower:

--- Quote from: mccoy178 on April 18, 2009, 09:18:01 am ---Well, it is supposed to be made by kids.  If anyone there thinks this kid made it, they are out of touch.  The rest of the parents will probably roll their eyes ::) or make snide comments.  I mean it is what it is. 

--- End quote ---

Two months ago my wife and I spent about 30 hours volunteering at our elementary school helping the kids write a 6 minute stage presentation.  They had to write the skit, design/build the set, choose the music, do everything themselves.  All we could do were ask them questions or answer questions to guide them.  As a result these 4th graders put together a pretty decent skit, but it took 30 hours, vs the 3-4 it would have taken had we been able to help or do it for them.

The other group from our school had one dad who built the whole thing for them and did all their arrangements while those kids screwed around the whole time.  Their set was awesome, but the kids never even touched it, and their arrangement was the same way.

Guess which team won the competition?  We never were able to convince our team their accomplishment was something to be proud of because the other kids kept bragging that they didn't have to do anything and they still won.  Our kids left that day upset and feeling like they wasted their time because it was obvious they never had a chance.  The judges didn't have a choice because all teams signed papers saying that the kids had done the work and that's all they could go by.

mccoy178:
That sucks.

SavannahLion:
ChadTower, yeah, the same thing happened recently here with a local kids baseball team. They were fishing for ideas until I gave them mine. Helped them plan it out. Another parent helped with the heavy power tools. The children did most of the work. I didn't even want credit for any of it since I felt it was all the kids work anyways. In the end, it was all for naught, they won second (or third or something) place while another team who had a professional carpenter actually build their float with money and materials from a hardware store owner (there was a budget, but this was apparently ignored) all on a rented full sized flat bed big rig trailer. The kids were bummed. As young as they are they recognized what happened and how badly they got screwed by the judges.

That's one of the reasons why I quit cub/boy scouts. My father made it a point that I was to do the work myself. He would show me, but I would do the work. I spent weeks working on my pinewood car. Used a dremel to carve out the block. Hollowed it out for weights, added weights, added a self lubing graphite system to the wheels (never thought of polishing or modifying the wheels). Built a ramp to test the speed and "straightness" of the car. It wasn't modeled on any particular car, just on the general aerodynamics based on photos I used.

The car that won was a kid that had full access to the "official" ramp since his father stored it in their garage. It was also pretty clear that his father built the car. The kid was so bored with the whole process he pretty much stood around talking with his friends while the race was set up and run. I don't think he was even there at the so-called awards ceremony.

At least my particular group was pretty cool. We did our scout requirements for the day then head upstairs to this tiny arcade at the lodge and spend the rest of the day having gaming competitions on Space Invaders and PacMan or go out back and fish on the docks. None of that ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow--- structure with an annoying adult watching over us. :)

ChadTower:

--- Quote from: SavannahLion on April 18, 2009, 12:57:41 pm ---That's one of the reasons why I quit cub/boy scouts.

--- End quote ---

My sons have never and never will be associated with the Scouts for two reasons:

1)  I grew up in backwoods NS and can better teach them anything the Scouts can.

2)  This guy was Scoutmaster in this town for four decades.  Do the math.

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