A Shelby Cobra replica built by Stissing Mountain High School students sold for $57,850 on June 11, the largest sale in the history of the Winner’s Circle Project.
The proceeds will go back into the program, helping fund next year’s kit, said Pius Kayiira, the project’s founder.
The Winner’s Circle Project is a STEAM program — short for science, technology, engineering, arts, and math — that uses race car building to teach students technical skills, creative problem-solving, collaboration, and confidence. Stissing Mountain is one of seven schools in New York state participating in the program.
“We build work ethic, good team collaboration, and learn how to problem solve together,” Kayiira said. “That’s a huge part of Winner’s Circle Projects. Even though we were able to give a lot of money back, the highlight is the interpersonal skills that people are working on.”
At Stissing Mountain High, 25 students took part in the yearlong project. Technical education teacher Jim Benincasa led the 17 students who built the car, drawing on his background in math, engineering, metalworking, and woodworking. Humanities teacher Jennifer Blackburn, who has a background in graphic design and has taught art and family consumer science, led eight students who handled marketing and media.
The buyer was Jim Lisi, 78, of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, a retired director of IT at DuPont and lifelong car enthusiast. Lisi remembers visiting dealerships with his father as a child, admiring cars the family could not afford. As an adult, he made up for it, buying Corvettes, Porsches, and a Cobra he owned from 2004 to 2012 before selling it, a decision he regretted until he bought the version made by Pine Plains students.
He had missed its muscle-car exterior and loud rumble.
But it was not the build alone that drew Lisi to the car. A few days after connecting with Kayiira, he and his wife, Jenise, drove from Pennsylvania to Pine Plains to see it in person and meet the team behind it.
“We were so impressed with how confident and passionate they were about what they did, how proud they were of the car,” Lisi said. “I got a chance to interact with them. They showed me different parts of the car, and to me, that was the best part of going to the school, meeting the kids.”
After his visit, Lisi made an additional donation of $7,150 to the project, bringing his total contribution to $65,000.
Based in Ithaca, the Winner’s Circle Project began in central New York and has since expanded, with most of its participating schools now in the Hudson Valley. Red Hook is expected to join the program next year.
Benincasa first heard about the program last year at a technical education teachers association meeting. Soon after, Principal Chris Boyd also brought it to his attention. School officials visited participating schools before applying, and the approval process included a review by the organization to determine whether Stissing Mountain had the capacity to complete the build.
On May 22, after eight months of work, the Pine Plains car ran at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut alongside cars built by other schools in the Winner’s Circle Project. The team placed fourth overall, won first place for build quality, and received the program’s visual communications award; cars from four other participating schools are currently up for auction in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.