Becoming an Ambassador gave Alexia Drakakis entry to the wonderful world of BLOODHOUND and armed her with plenty of ideas for Science lessons as well. If you’re inspired by her story, you can find out more on our Ambassador page.
And if you’d like Ambassadors to visit your school or want to know more about BLOODHOUND’s educational resources, please visit our Education pages.
When I signed up to be a BLOODHOUND Ambassador, I hadn’t anticipated that I’d be trying to break some world records of my own ...
Juggling life as a busy mum plus getting to grips with a new career as a secondary school teacher hadn’t provided me with the perfect conditions to volunteer at full throttle. In fact, by the spring term I was so knee deep in lesson plans that all I could do was watch from the sidelines as the BLOODHOUND Project progressed.
Thankfully, the team are a supportive crew and Seema, BLOODHOUND’s Ambassador Programme Manager, diligently updated me with bulletins, waiting patiently for a time when I could help out. Being a teacher, though, I had had a few bright ideas about how to angle several Science lessons to incorporate BLOODHOUND.
And it’s amazing how handy my students came in too: when a fellow Ambassador got in touch to ask if I’d be interested in supporting a Rocket Car racing event at Bournemouth School I instinctively said yes, before it dawned on me that there may be a hurdle to climb. Would my school (King’s School, Winchester) approve of me taking a whole day out of classes to play with rocket cars? I cunningly volunteered to take a minibus full of pupils along for the ride. Not only did my employers say yes, they turned out to be incredibly supportive.
However, before I was given the final nod, another offer came my way – this time it was a request from Seema to help out at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
“BLOODHOUND attracts the most interesting people”
I’d built K’Nex cars before but never rocket cars, so to brush up in preparation for Bournemouth I saw this as a great way of being a hands-on ambassador, again as well as checking out some rocket designs. Again, my school were so supportive; even letting me take a day out to go!
Goodwood Festival of Speed was a great event. The BLOODHOUND tent looked so impressive as I walked across the green towards it, and for the next 10 hours I was lost in a wonderful world of K’Nex builds, rockets, top speeds, rocket pump engines, desert surfaces and 1K Club memberships. Even if I couldn’t answer all the questions put to me, there was always a fellow ambassador nearby who could help out. A great way to learn!
BLOODHOUND always attracts the most interesting people who are willing to share their own engineering stories in exchange for a project update (and a 1K Club leaflet). For example, some recent graduates spent an hour perfecting their K’Nex car designs while chatting about how they were impressed by the sponsors supporting BLOODHOUND.
A mum with her daughters, who had come to build rocket cars, expressed delight with how the project had enthused her girls and their friends to get involved in a STEM club at school.
And a group of Year 10 boys were bursting with questions about the effects of supersonic travel on Andy Green and left clutching the website address so they could put their names on the tail-fin.
With every interaction, I began to see so many links to the National Curriculum and I gathered more ideas on how I could bring BLOODHOUND into the classroom. As the tent got quieter after 5pm I grasped the moment and asked REME’s Liz Brown if she would record a video message for my classes to get them involved in the competition to design a BLOODHOUND SSC key fob, which she kindly agreed to. And at the very end of the day I visited the Jaguar stand to try out the new BLOODHOUND SSC simulator and eye up the new F-type – a truly unforgettable moment.
From Goodwood to Bournemouth
Now I felt fully prepared for the event down at Bournemouth School and that proved to be just as much of a success. A presentation by BLOODHOUND Ambassador David Hanson gave everyone an appreciation for the challenges that BLOODHOUND SSC faces and then we split into our school groups to face our own rocket car challenges.
With some helpful hints and tips from REME’s Ade Irwin, Ambassador Sean Noonan and Bournemouth Grammar’s impressive sixth form students, our seven teams were heads-down, sketching out designs and getting to grips with complex side and plan views. It was great to see the pupils apply and extend their knowledge of aerodynamics.
Excitement was building as we met back in the school hall to showcase the range of designs before heading out to the playground for launch. The next hour was a thrilling mix of bangs, whooshes, cracks, smoke and cheers. In the end my pupils, under the name of ‘Team Hannah and Lucy’ did us proud, coming away with second place for their penguin-inspired design, Pingu. Everyone had enjoyed the day and we thanked our hosts for making us feel so welcome.
Part of the BLOODHOUND family
Since the autumn term started I’ve been plunged back in to the hectic world of teaching so my time has been swallowed up with planning, marking and GCSE preparation. Sadly, I wasn’t able to make it to any of the world debut events but eagerly followed the TV and radio coverage. I was also delighted to find myself receiving updates from pupils who had also been following the story.
Every now and then I get an e-mail from fellow Ambassadors keeping me up to date with what they are doing or pointing me in the direction of talks or resources that my pupils might enjoy. The BLOODHOUND world has introduced me to a whole network of friendly, helpful, interesting and enthusiastic people.
Meanwhile, the Ambassador bulletins keep me up to date with what’s happening and Seema and the team wait patiently for the day when I can support them again … I hope it will be soon.
