Elon Musk asks Flint students to push their creative boundaries

FLINT, MI – If you're curious about something, try it.

While pictures of Elon Musk were appearing on a screen inside Doyle-Ryder Elementary School's gym on Friday morning, Space X and Tesla's CEOs explained to his students his interest for the field of engineering.

Born in South Africa, Musk, 47, said he liked creating model aircraft, rockets and radios. He also admitted that he liked to blow things up.

Musk regarded engineering as "the closest thing to the magic that exists in the real world".

"If you think about things we can do today, like stealing and chatting on thousands of miles of video and asking Google for anything. These would be considered witchcraft hundreds of years ago, "he said. "It's pretty amazing that things … are now real because of engineering and that's what engineering does. This makes the magic real. "

This appearance of Musk comes after two recent billionaire technological billionaire donations to the district, including one of $ 423,600, which will be used to purchase Chromebooks for all college students. Students are transferred to a common middle school of the former Flint Northern High School, focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics – or STEM.

Derrick Lopez, director of Flint community schools, said the district envisioned this space as an opportunity for students to "work collaboratively and creatively so that they evolve into the future." they want to design themselves.

He stressed the importance of allowing graduates to prepare for positions in the world of business.

Musk noted that part of what prevents some people is self-limitation.

"If you do not think you can do anything, you will not do it. But if you think you can do something or maybe you can do something … I think you'll find that you can do a lot more than you realize, "he said.

He noted that the first attempt may not always be successful. For example, he referred to the dozen or so rocket landing attempts that failed until the 14th attempt.

Musk was joined by some of his employees at the school assembly. Markell Baldwin said it was with curiosity that he ended up with a senior engineer position at Tesla.

The Chicago native told students that he had bought a $ 10 unused PlayStation from a friend.

"I sat in my room and tinkered with it," Baldwin said, finally finding the disconnected sensor that was a quick fix. "It was at that time that I knew I wanted to become an engineer. I still did not understand how the sensors worked or the subtleties of the material, but I knew there was something really cool. "

Baldwin said he had a "very tough education" on the south side of the town of Windy, with his sick mother and father not in the picture. It's his brother who encouraged his curiosity.

Finding information about the Tesla Roadster While studying electrical engineering at Purdue University, Baldwin was interested in the company that ultimately sought him out.

"They saw that I was working hard," he said. "You can only control what you can control and it's you. I have just made every effort and do my best. I encourage you to do your best.

This means, in part, asking for help or explanation.

"I think the most important thing that remains to an engineer is the ability to question things, the ability to challenge things, the ability to be curious," Baldwin said. "As a kid who loved to tinker with PlayStation, VCRs and DVD players, being able to play with electric cars is literally a dream come true. This school and all this business are for you the opportunity to achieve the same. "

Two sixth and seventh grade students will have the opportunity to see some of this work in person. The Musk Foundation is funding visits for two students to Space X and Tesla's design studio, both in Hawthorne, California.

Brea King, a 12-year-old sixth-grade elementary student at Doyle-Ryder, was excited about Musk's visit to school.

"I think it was great to meet someone who is designing rockets and who is able to shoot them in the sky, who can watch the planets and Mars and invent new creations like Tesla," he said. she declared.

Kevelin Jones, director of Doyle-Ryder, said the district should do "something completely original for our children in what they do today" away from the conference traditional teacher and student writing at a desk.

"It's time to have teachers (who are) ready to stand on a desk to sing with the children and do things … that will light a fire in them," he explained. "We want them to get up, we want them to think about kinetic learning. We want them to move. Elon Musk is all about that and we follow that and we are for that and our school superintendent is also for that. "

Jones took part in a meeting with Musk following the assembly, which included state senator Jim Ananich, D-Flint, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, as well as senior executives. businesses and the community, hoping to understand how Musk's approach to engineering could translate into education.

"I always think of a growth – oriented state of mind. Therefore, if it can work in engineering, it can work in entertainment, it is better to work in education, "Jones said.

Students in all buildings, including the new STEM College, will have new water filtration systems available by the 2019-2020 school year, made possible by Musk's previous donation of $ 480,350.

The systems will be installed in late April and will be tested in previous months, said Lopez.