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Small Town Chopper Club

Article And Photos By: Fred Mathews

Originally Published In The March 2012 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

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5,114 people call La Crescent, Minnesota their home. Now that a chopper club has settled in, things are about to change. Even though this chopper club only has 8 members besides their fearless leader, they will shake things up in this small community. A town known for growing some great tasting apples will now be making room for some two-wheel wonders. It’s not as bad as you might be imagining. What is really happening is that shop teacher, Scott Martin, has jumped at the chance to get the La Crescent-Hokah High School going with a chopper class that will compete in the Donnie Smith Chopper Class Challenge this coming March 24th & 25th 2012 during the 25th Annual Donnie Smith Bike Show & Parts Extravaganza. Donnie Smith has been building bikes for over 30 years and is known as one of the greater influences on custom bikes. Scott has been teaching for 10 years, and is currently the technology education teacher (some of us called this shop class). Previously, Scott was teaching at the Caledonia High School also in Minnesota. He started a chopper class there that made showings at the Donnie Smith show for 2 years, bringing home some awards for their efforts. The Donnie Smith Chopper Challenge (DSCC) was started in 2003 when Kevin Baas from Kennedy High School in Bloomington, MN took his high school shop class to compete with the bike they had built in class. It was noticed as being a great way to keep kids involved in school, especially for those that are not interested in typical school activities such as football or music. When it was set up as a full part of the Donnie Smith Cycle Show, there was a whole agenda that went along with it. Each class has to keep detailed records of their build: time, parts, donation, plans, and profit if they sell their bike. This is not just welding and cutting. The chopper challenge is set up to teach the students how a real business would run. Students even have to work the advertising end of it to get votes at the show.

Scott Martin is looking to take his new chopper club up a notch at his current school. There are plans that next year it might even be part of the daily school schedule instead of just an after school club. Being that school budgets are tight, they are looking for donations from those that believe in the future of our youth. Donations can be in the form of parts, money, purchasing t-shirts, or even offering to come and teach a skill needed in the building of custom motorcycles. The hope is to get enough parts to keep building future bikes and raise enough cash to go to the show for the weekend. Then each build will be sold to help fund other builds and trips. This will eventually make the chopper club self sufficient so the school won’t shut it down due to budget cuts. Currently, Scott does all this on his own time just for the love of helping kids get engaged in something other than looking for trouble. The kids also have to be passing their other classes to stay in the chopper club.

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This year Scott has 8 kids, including 1 young lady builder in his class. They are currently working over a Yamaha XS650 to turn in into a one-of-a-kind build that will certainly turn some heads at the DSCC. Many of these kids have never even ridden a motorcycle let alone worked on one. They do all share the love of motorcycles while also seeking out a challenge and chance to grow. Taking a stock bike and transforming it into a custom bike can be a burden when working alone, now add more cooks in the kitchen. This is where the learning comes into play. Working as a team to accomplish a goal that they all had to decide on and often times change on the fly will develop them for the real world later on. The chopper class is not just about welding and grinding, it gives the students skills they will be able to use in real life situations. This is why it is important to help schools develop classes that engage the students who would otherwise just slide by with no real accomplishments from high school. The La Crescent-Hokah High School Chopper Club could use our help. If you feel that you can do something for them they can be found on Facebook by looking for “La Crescent – Hokah High School Chopper Class.” You can also stop by and check out their build along with the other chopper class builds at this year’s Donnie Smith Cycle Show. The students that you can help along this year are: Mikey Brewster, David Schuldt, Tom Wermager, Weston Willette, Cole Lorenz, McKenzie Miller, Joey Ruppert, Ian Krajewski, and Michael Michalke

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