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NASCAR WCUP: RaceWarrior Gets Good Grades with Teacher

27 April 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

SHALLOTTE, N.C. -- Students no longer have to hide their comic books behind their textbooks at Shallotte Middle School, where a teacher has turned the comic books into learning tools.

Eighth-grade teacher Ella Petty decided to do something different in order to prepare her students for the upcoming end-of-grade tests. Petty knew students weren't always excited to learn standard textbook literature, so she sought an alternative teaching path. She noticed the recent revival of comic books and realized its potential.

"I'll use anything to get my students to read," Petty said. "If the students are excited to come to school, that's great, because once they're here I can teach them."

Petty discovered RaceWarrior, a futuristic auto racing comic book free of the sexual references and graphic violence which is prominent in many comic books on the market. She uses RaceWarrior to teach her students elements of characterization, plot, conflict, dialogue and flashback. The comic book has also become a vehicle for Petty to talk to her students about career opportunities, showing them that their skills can lead to careers as writers, editors, artists and computer graphic technicians.

"In this day, we're competing with so many things," said Petty, who has been teaching for 24 years. "It's my responsibility to search out as many ways as possible to get their attention."

The Startling Facts

The urgent need for teachers to get their students' attention is compelling. In 1950, the average 14-year-old in the United States had a vocabulary of 25,000 words. By 1999, that number had dropped to 10,000 words, according to an article appearing in the February 14, 2000 issue of Time magazine.

"Children need to read about one million words a year to confront enough new words to build their vocabularies adequately," said Phil Daro, execu tive director of New Standards, a joint program of the National Center on Education and the Economy (www.ncee.org) and the Learning Research and Development Center.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 82 percent of children still read for fun. And although they spend five times as much time with TV, computers and video games, children still spend 45 minutes a day reading. Also, children that are "high" computer users (more than one hour a day) are twice as likely as kids who don't use computers to read for more than an hour a day (34 percent vs. 17 percent).

Allan Cook, associate professor at the University of Illinois Springfield, said, "(RaceWarrior) is very good for older readers who haven't quite reached their normal reading level." In the United States, only three in 10 fourth graders read at a proficient level or better, according to National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Cook teaches students who are working toward an education degree. He added, "We teach many different methods and materials, but what it comes down to is that it shouldn't matter what students read, as long as they are reading."

The literary experts that developed the Primary Literacy Standards recommend that beginning in kindergarten, children should read or be read four to six books a day. By third grade, they should read independently 30 books a year of prescribed difficulty and from different genres.

"This is a family comic book," said John A. Powell III, creator of RaceWarrior. "We've kept it free of sex and graphic violence. It sometimes uses complex words, but the story lines are easy to follow and the graphics are incredible. We didn't set out for RaceWarrior to be used as a teaching tool, but I am overjoyed that teachers feel comfortable using it to teach their students."

Bridging the Gap Between Corporations and Schools

Recently, Petty's students sent letters and photos to Custom Comics of America, LLC, the company that created RaceWarrior.

"It's a lot better than doing the same thing over and over out of the text book," said Kyle Murphy, one of Petty's students.

Ramon Moreno said, "The comic book has made class more interesting, which makes kids listen more so we get better grades."

"Only 10 of the 75 students in my class chose not to use RaceWarrior instead of their literature book. My job is to prepare my students for life. This comic book has encouraged the children to use the Internet and email, from visiting the RaceWarrior website to emailing John Powell. They've even learned how to use the fax machine," Petty said.

RaceWarrior is an example of the corporate world working hand-in-hand with educators to encourage children to read. Petty couldn't afford to buy a comic book for each student -- just enough for them to share. But when Custom Comics received the letters and photos from the students, the company sent more than enough comic books so that everyone in the class could have a copy of the first five issues.

"The average grade of my three classes has increased from an 82 to a 90 from the last grading period to this period's mid-terms," Petty said. "That is a dramatic increase."

Ellen Milligan, assistant principal at Shallotte Middle School, said, "Because all students do not receive and process information at the same level of interest, teachers who strive to present instruction using a variety of methods are increasing the probability of student success. Ms. Petty's class was an excellent example of how such innovative teaching leads to that success."

RaceWarrior comic books debuted nationwide in March, distributing more than four million copies in the first month. The collectible, bi-weekly auto racing comic book is set in the year 2020. For more information, visit www.racewarrior.com.

Text provided by Jenny Bonk

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.