SC school creates drive for career in motorsports. It’s the only one of its kind in US

Destiny Nash stands in a swirl of white smoke as a pile of dust gathers at her feet.

The 18-year-old is sanding a car bumper, part of her auto-collision class at Palmetto Academy of Learning Motorsports.

The class is part of a unique curriculum being offered at the Horry County charter school, making it the only motorsports high school in the country.

While there are other high schools in the U.S. that offer a racing program, the Conway school, located at 826 W. Cox Ferry Road, is the only one that provides a hybrid learning curriculum.

In addition to teaching traditional classes such as math, science, English and history, the school offers hands-on learning in welding, motorsports technology, auto-collision technology and digital arts and graphics.

The school’s main goal is to get students to graduate and find a career.

So far, it seems to be working.

The school had a 79.2% graduation rate in 2023, as well as a high percentage of students demonstrating success, according to the South Carolina Department of Education’s Oversight Committee. That is compared to 82.1% district wide and 83.8% statewide.

Ron Miller, vocational director and one of the founders of the school, said what’s missing in education is creating a buy in from students by adjusting classes to what they are interested in learning.

Students don’t get why it’s important for them to take these academic classes and how it fits into what they want to do after school, Miller said.

“I’m trying to instill in them to get a career,” Miller said. “If they just graduate, we win. If they focus on a career, we win.”

School has a waiting list for program

On one side of the school is the academic classes, where students spend part of the day learning about traditional subjects such as writing, math and science. On the other half are the classrooms where they are able to get hands-on training and participate in project-based learning.

Nash is one of 200 students, and one of the few females, who attend the vocational charter school.

There are currently 50 kids on the wait-list to get into the school.

Nash’s long manicured nails stand out as she works the sander along the silver metal. The senior got into cars because she wanted to work on her own vehicle. But working on cars is not her plan for a career.

Instead, she plans to go into cosmetology with the hopes of opening her own shop. Car repair will be a side hobby, she said.

And while students are able to choose among the four motorsports classes, like Nash, it doesn’t mean that they their career will be in that field. However, the skills that they learn can be used in other jobs, Principal Jeffrey Peterson said.

As Nash works in the auto-collision class, just a few doors down, students are sitting in a small classroom discussing measurements for their welding project.

Donald Howard, who has been welding for 29 years, writes fractions on the board as the students jot down the numbers.

Once Howard is finished, the students rush to their lockers to get their masks and gloves so they can get into one of the 18 booths and begin welding.

It’s the largest class at the school.

Howard said it’s because welding can be used in other careers, not just motorsports.

The same goes for the digital arts and graphics, although the students focus on making car wraps, decals and signs that can be used in motorsports.

Tyler Gryd is also working one of the big four areas – motorsports technology. It’s where all the parts come together and where race cars are built.

Each student starts out working on go-karts, which Miller said is similar in makeup to race cars.

The 17-year-old has an interest in racing, brought through his grandfather. Gryd races flat carts and race cars.

He said the school fit into what he wanted to do, which is to become a NASCAR fabricator.

Working for NASCAR is not out of the question.

Peterson said they currently have alumni who work in the pit crew for NASCAR drivers.

The school has a large trailer that sits outside the school. During the school year, students are able to take the cars that they work on and race them on nearby race tracks, such as Florence or Dillon. It allows them to see first-hand their work in action.

Creating a drive for a career

Miller understands the kids who attend PALM.

As a high school student, the 67-year-old struggled with the classes he was forced to take. “I wasn’t that guy,” he said.

Miller had a love for racing, something he still does today.

The idea for PALM came about after years of dealing with students like himself.

Miller was a teacher in Robeson County Schools when the district had 100 students drop out at one time. When asked what would they want in education and what they were interested in, it was girls, motorcycles and cars, Miller said.

Eventually, Miller left as a teacher, but he later created a night school that was designed for high school drop outs and “dislocated” adults.

This later led to the idea of starting a school that would teach academics “in a more unique way. That’s what the kids need,” Miller said.

PALM began about 12 years ago by Miller and Mack Sarvis.

Students who go to the free, public school attend four days a week. It was designed that way so they can get jobs on Fridays or get caught up on school work or seek assistance.

Nearly half of the school’s students are considered disadvantaged students, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Since it’s a smaller school, the students are able to get academic help on a more personal level. Many of the graduates go on to trades or skill training at Horry-Georgetown Technical College.

The parents are also heavily involved in the program, including having four parent representatives on its board.

The equipment used at the school isn’t cheap. Miller points to a $4,000 pile of steel-anglers, which are used in fabrication. A welding machine costs $6,000. Most equipment, including $10,000 worth of paint donated for the mixing room of the auto body class, comes from grants, donations or they build it themselves, Miller said.

The school is currently undergoing a shift in its administration and working to improve its overall state scores. The recent state school report card showed that the school improved its overall rating from “below average” last school year to “good” this year.

It’s also creating new opportunities with companies, including the aerospace company Boeing.

For Miller, it’s about providing students with “that drive to grab that career.”

Tom Baker, who works in janitorial maintenance at the school, said he wished that such a program existed when he was young. “It would’ve been a different change in my life.”