Violet Cerda said she is learning new critical life skills earlier than she thought she would.

Cerda and 11 of her peers are part of an after-school program that allows them to design, build and race their own electric car.

“I got to get out of my comfort zone and got to talk to other people that I didn't know from other classes, we got to build a car together,” Cerda said.

Cerda and her peers are students at Vanguard Academy Picasso Elementary School in Pharr. The school has an afterschool STEM program, Greenpower USA, which Cerda is part of.

“It builds engineering qualities… it helps students become more aware of just what they're used to,” Greenpower USA coach Eliud Salinas said. “They may be into computers or little Legos. This brings it into a much bigger factor."

The program was introduced to students in 2024 through a federally funded program that provides free extracurricular activities to students.

Greenpower USA also includes an academic portion where the kids present their electric car in a classroom before heading out to race. Salinas said this helps students solve problems if one happens out on the track during training.

“They need to be able to explain what the problem was, what they did to try to fix it and what the solution ended up becoming,” Salinas said.

Cerda said that trial and error portion is preparing her for the future.

“Something can just break, and what if you don't want to call someone? Well, you can fix it yourself,” Cerda said.

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