Nearly 30 years ago a small group of high school students from Northampton and Halifax counties, along with their teachers, shocked the world when they built a full-size electric race car and won regional and national competitions. 

To commemorate that achievement and honor the work of the students, teachers, administrators, and community members for the many years of the electric vehicle program, a reunion is being held on September 28. 

The reunion will also serve as a kickoff for a new sustainable transportation education program for students across North Carolina. 

The shock came in 1994 when a group of rural high school students and their teachers combined their academic and mechanical expertise to build an electrified Ford Escort called Shocker to compete against more affluent schools in the EV Challenge in Richmond.

“In what could best be described as a David vs. Goliath storyline, NEAT (Northeast Electric Automotive Team) rolled into Richmond and left with the overall championship. In the different categories of the Grand Prix, NEAT claimed first place in the range event and the race, and placed third in their educational presentation,” Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald Editor Cal Bryant recounted in a July column.

The event will be held at Central Elementary School on Highway 305 in Jackson from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The evening starts with arrival and a get together from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.; a program from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.; and dinner at 6 p.m.

The event is for any former students, teachers, administrators, and community members that participated in the electric vehicle Northampton and Halifax educational programs from 1993 to 2010. Family and friends are welcome. 

Any memorabilia for display is requested.

To RSVP click this link by September 21.

There is a donation of up to $25 per person, payable in cash or Venmo only at the event.