"Working so hard" barely describes the effort these incredible teenagers and their teachers have been expending since I wrote about them eight weeks ago. After school, weeknights and Saturdays, you'll find them in the Hanson Street garage, toiling madly to hit the next deadline in their dogged quest to nab the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE.
And donors, moved by the Daily News tale of the little team that might, have contributed almost $26,000 toward the $80,000-to-$100,000 needed to keep West Philly in the game.
The biggest gift was a $10,000 check from the Detroit-based United Auto Workers, whose president, Ron Gettelfinger, contacted West Philly as soon as he read their story.
"The students are unbelievable," says Gettelfinger, who spent two hours with the team last month and was knocked out by their enthusiasm. "The future of the automotive industry is in this new technology, and they're out there on the cutting edge. We wanted to support them."
He has special praise for Simon Hauger, 40, the team's Pied Piper-esque founder who has a way of convincing skeptics that crazy goals are impossible only if you decide to wuss out.
"He's impressive - incredible," says Gettelfinger, awed.
And off his rocker, says Ann Cohen, a team mentor (along with teachers Ron Preiss and Jerry DiLossi).
"Simon gets these insane ideas in his head. We've stopped saying, 'We can't do that,' " she says, "because we always get it done. Secretly, it's why we like him."
Craziest is this X PRIZE thing, which requires entrants to create an affordable, alternative-energy car that gets 100 miles per gallon and can be mass-produced. They must also submit a business plan detailing where and how the car will be made and marketed.
