Paul Duke STEM High School Formula 24 Racing Team Forges a New Path, Assisted by McDonald’s Golden Grant

At Paul Duke STEM High School, their motto is to be trailblazers and make the path for new and creative ideas. That’s exactly what they are doing now, expanding the path of success and building something special with the Paul Duke F24 Racing Team. They are officially the only F24 Racing team in Gwinnett County Public Schools but with future success, they hope to see that change.

The PDS Formula 24 Racing Team got its start in September 2020 when a senior student, Marco Altamirano-Pacheco, approached the Career and Technical Education Co-Chair Stephen Cochran with the idea of starting a race team at Paul Duke STEM High School. Cochran responded with, “If you can find $5,000 then we will start a team.”

A few months later, Altamirano-Pacheco was driving by McDonald’s when he took a picture of a Golden Grant opportunity offered by the fast-food chain, funded by McDonald’s of Greater Atlanta Owners/Operators. This local initiative supports individuals, educators, programs and organizations serving students grades K-12 by assisting in funding for creative and hands-on educational and community-minded projects.

Altamirano-Pacheco and Cochran applied for the grant with the help of parent Tina Budnitz. They were notified in March 2021 that they had won a $10,000 Golden Grant and they promptly purchased the Greenpower Kit. The Greenpower starter kit provided by Greenpower USA F24 allows students grades 6 through 12 to build Formula 24 cars in a team environment and eventually race in competitions.

“A major influence that got me to join was the want to learn more about the mechanics of electric vehicles. I was interested in components of vehicles like motors, chassis, how to maintain the structural integrity of these types of vehicles, and other intricate parts,” Melecio Flores said.

The newly formed team spent the rest of May 2021 building the car, refining the car this summer and spending the first part of this school year getting the car ready for the first competition which was held October 4 in Lafayette, Alabama. The team took 3rd place in the Modified Division.

“The experience has been amazing. My teammates and generally the team as one, have brought me a good time on and off the track; to experience the thrill and adrenaline rush with them is just great and I wouldn’t really be here in this position without their constant effort in the car,” Darwin Ramirez said.

The PDS F24 Racing Team has learned a lot in the course of getting ready to compete and will continue to do so as the program progresses.

“Some challenges that I have faced in the construction of the body would have to be the fabricating of some of the very complex shapes and structures involved with the body design of our car,” Robert Syvertson said. “I overcame these challenges through perseverance, effort, time, and the exploration of different ideas and strategies to construct and design these systems.”

The team has a number of races to prepare for in the new year. To keep up to speed with the PDS F24 Racing team, visit pdsf24racing.com.

Race Schedule

December 4, 2021
Santa Sprints (F24 race)
Columbus, Ga.
January 15, 2022
Oxford Green Prix
Oxford, Al.
February 12, 2022
Columbus Grand Prix
Columbus, Ga.
April 16, 2022
Diverse Power Grand Prix
LaGrange, Ga.