Students clamored around the husk of a banged up 2004 Pontiac Grand Am with money in hand, ready to watch and participate in the third annual car smash from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 2. A ruckus of cheers erupted from the crowd as each student, donning the student council (StuCo) issued bicycle helmet, gardening gloves and goggles and armed with a thin metal bat, beat the car from every angle. When not battering, students huddled in groups to enjoy the complementary s’mores and music.
The car smash, started in 2017 by StuCo to raise money for hurricane relief, charged students two dollars for three hits, and five dollars for 30 seconds. This year, all proceeds went to the Central Missouri Food Bank. Despite a slow start, StuCo member senior Jack Stevens said the event was a smashing success.
“It’s a really great turn out. A lot of people are talking and having fun,” Stevens said. “Mr Sirna is here; he’s talking with students, and all the queens are here. Yeah, it’s going really well.”
Earlier this month there was confusion as to whether or not StuCo would hold the car smash due to difficulty finding a car. StuCo sponsor Kelley Wittenborn said the method in which StuCo secured the car this year differed from years previous.
“This year is the first year that we have had a junkyard give us one of their cars, so it’s a car that has kind of already been junked, but still it’s not smashed. When we called the junk yard we basically asked if they had anything fully intact, and they brought one over yesterday. The auto shop class is prepping it up for us, and they did a really great job,” Wittenborn said. “The last two years we’ve just gotten really lucky in that two teachers kind of came to us and said we’d love to give you our car. We had to do a lot more digging this year, so it was a bit of a scramble.”
The initial confusion slightly delayed StuCo’s advertising according to Stevens, but still several dozens of students donated, watched or participated tonight. One of which was freshman Aarya Kumar, a first time patron of the event.
“I think it’s a really cool way to get the whole school involved, and it’s really fun,” Kumar said. “[I came] because my sister told me about it, and lots of friends told me, and I saw lots of fliers.”
Although beating the same rusted car with the same dented bats, many students shared different reasons for partaking. More than just a way to relieve stress or raise money, senior Vincent Leloux, a German foreign exchange student, viewed the event as a way to learn more about life in America and RBHS.
“It’s new; I think it’s a cultural thing. We don’t have it, but why not,you know? So, to just experience it, it’s really cool,” Leloux said. “It’s a great atmosphere. I think you are living in a real open and colorful community, so you respect each other, and you aren’t really grouping or excluding somebody, so I think it’s just great.”
Despite the setbacks, StuCo succeeded in raising money for the Central Missouri Food Bank, as well as provide a memorable annual activity. Wittenborn described the car smash as one of the most notable events RBHS has to offer.
“In the last couple of years that I have been able to work this event and observe it, I believe it is weirdly a really great stress reliever for students. I believe how much stress and pressure you guys are under because when given a chance to kind of relieve stress and tension you guys really go at it, and the car takes a pretty good beating. There’s something kind of weird about students beating up a car, but they get really into it and cheer,” Wittenborn said. “It’s a great community builder and tension reliever, and it’s kind of silly, and it’s kinda crazy, but it’s fun, good time.”
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