{"id":960160,"date":"2026-07-26T10:17:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T10:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/960160\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T10:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T10:17:15","slug":"8-southland-students-selected-for-comed-go-kart-rally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/960160\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Southland students selected for ComEd go-kart rally"},"content":{"rendered":"

A ComEd program originally designed to foster teenage girls\u2019 interest in science, technology, engineering and math has expanded in its 10th year to include boys, doubling its size and impact, organizers say.<\/p>\n

Of the 60 students selected to build and race electric go-karts over two weeks at Chicago\u2019s Fields Studio, eight were from the south and southwest suburbs, according to ComEd.<\/p>\n

They include Arielle Brazelton, a rising senior at Homewood-Flossmoor High School who was working to connect wires to power headlights for the Teal Team\u2019s go-kart.<\/p>\n

Brazelton said during Thursday\u2019s go-kart building session she was able to venture into computer science and engineering thanks to classes available at her school, which is how she ended up at a local STEM expo and heard about the ComEd program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was talking to my teachers about this too, and they told me it was a good opportunity,\u201d she said. \u201cI love building, I love robotics, so I was like, why would I not do this? \u2026 And it kind of put me one step further and one step closer to what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

ComEd Senior Communications Manager John Schoen said the program was designed to offer a space for girls to gain practical knowledge and make connections in a male-dominated industry.<\/p>\n

But as the experience evolved from building karts out of old refrigerators to electric vehicles, interest grew.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a lot of parents say, \u2018oh, I wish I had something like this for my son,’\u201d Schoen said.<\/p>\n

Schoen said he also noticed families willing to travel long distances to participate, with the program this year seeing students from as far away as Rockford. ComEd provided meals and a seating area for families during Thursday\u2019s 2 1\/2-hour build session.<\/p>\n

The 30 boys and 30 girls were each split into teams of five, each with a different color. They will race their go-karts during their race day and final session together from noon to 4 p.m. on Aug. 1.<\/p>\n

Each student, ranging from age 13 to 18, will receive a $1,000 scholarship at the end of the program. The south suburban students hail from Homewood, Steger, Mokena, Chicago Heights and Sauk Village, according to ComEd.<\/p>\n