Martin is the founder of Urban Youth Racing School, which uses race-car driving to get kids interested in learning about science, technology, engineering and math. Martin also directs an annual symposium joining inner-city students with professional athletes and other successful role models. What prompted you to start the annual symposium?
I actually heard President Barack Obama speak two years ago — it was his education reform speech — and he talked about the 50 percent high school dropout rate in cities. So I made a couple phone calls and got some of my buddies to come together and do a symposium to talk about what it took to make them successful. Charles Barkley attended the first event.
What kind of reaction did you get from the event?
We saw it was very, very successful and the hundreds of kids that came to the event were very intrigued by it and got a lot out of it. … What we are doing now is maintaining contact with the kids through an e-mentoring program — a website we are building where these celebrities can answer questions from the kids.
How does the racing school work?
The racing school has been around for 13 years. We teach kids about motorsports using science, technology, engineering and math classes. We also teach them about careers in the motorsports industry, and after that, we take them out on the actual racetrack.
How long is the program?
It’s a 10-week-long program held on Saturdays. The students take tests and write essays and get graded — and then they get a chance to implement on the racetrack what they learned in the classroom.
What is an example of a lesson you would teach that could relate to racing?
Let’s take geometry, for example. When you talk about an apex, that’s important in racing because if you can match your apex on a racetrack on a center part of a turn you become a much faster driver.
Hayley Peterson
