The Gilford High School Introduction to Engineering class recently presented the latest Go Baby Go car to a Gilford resident. Ellah Murray visited the high school to receive a pink Mercedes Power Wheels car that was modified by the engineering students.
The Go Baby Go project is designed to assist students with mobility challenges and allow them to more easily move in and around their homes and schools. Go Baby Go is a loosely organized group of high school and college students who are attempting to make life easier for disabled students. The program teaches students about assistive technology and user-centered design. As students begin to identify modifications that will be best for a particular student, they develop empathy for the student and their caregivers as they design safe innovations for the car.
The Go Baby Go program, at Gilford HS, was started by student Troy Gallagher in 2019. That year, the class completed 2 cars for students at Gilford Elementary School (GES). The class was honored by US Senator Maggie Hassan when she designated the class, “Granite Staters of the Month,” and arranged to have a proclamation read into the congressional record. Since that first class, the Introduction to Engineering students have delivered six Go Baby Go cars. Car number seven will be presented in January to a GES student.
The high school engineering students who worked on this car were Julianna Herbert, Elijah Miller, Benjamin Suranyi and Mitchell Townsend. The purchase of the car and supplies came from a generous donation by the Blacktop Saints Riding Club.
