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Mantachie
Weather
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MODEL
CLUB
Mr. Carl
McLaughlin, Sponsor
Congratulations to the Mantachie High School International
Plastic Model Society Model Club for winning Chapter of the Year for the Deep
South! They will compete with all other regions of the country in Virginia
Beach in August.
Individual winners in the 2008 Model Contest were:
Zach Rhodes--Best Auto, Best in Show, and Most Popular (voted by
students)
Scotty Bridges--Best Aircraft
| Flying high: Model
aircraft, vehicles help build pride
5/13/2008 2:16:46 PM
Mantachie |
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[PHOTO: From left, International Plastic Model
Society members Mark Neaves, Straton Karatosos and Carl McLaughlin inspect the
hundreds of model aircraft built by McLaughlin’s Mantachie High School special
education students. MHS is home to the world’s only youth-based IPMS club, which
McLaughlin helped form more than a decade ago. - photo by Adam Armour]
By ADAM ARMOUR
Staff Writer
The skies above Carl McLaughlin’s special education class are filled with the
machines of war.
Flying high above the heads of his students are more than 200 fighter jets,
bombers, airplanes and helicopters — all faithful representations of their kind
scaled to 1/48th of their actual size.
It’s been 10 years since McLaughlin — affectionately called “Mr. Mack” by nearly
all of his Mantachie High School students — began the school’s chapter of the
International Plastic Model Society as a fun distraction for his students. Now,
his classroom is one of the most frequently visited in the school, with teachers
and students alike touring the room each year in order to stare upward at the
hundreds of miniature flying machines.
When asked if he had the most unique classroom in the school, McLaughlin shook
his head and laughed.
“Well, I guess I do,” he admitted with a shrug as he shot a quick glance at the
judges. Stepping off a ladder, Straton Karatosos asked fellow IPMS member Mark
Neaves what he thought of one of the many planes being judged during this year’s
annual contest. The two were both impressed by the quality of the students’ work
and began debating the placement of several choices. From the back of the room
came a booming laugh.
“That’s why I judge the cars … by myself,” roared D.J. Whitehead, a member of
the International Plastic Model Society’s Tupelo-based club, Mississippi
Modelers, and long-time judge for the Mantachie class’ annual contest among the
year’s models.
“Yeah, the competition among themselves can get pretty fierce,” McLaughlin said
of his class. This year, there are more than 20 students competing in the
modeling contest for prizes in each division. Winners receive plaques and
medallions, while the “Best in Show” winner will receive a football autographed
by Mississippi State University football coach Sylvester Croom — strong
motivation for the students to do well.
Not that they need such motivation to do their best. According to McLaughlin,
the students absolutely love building and detailing the tiny vehicles. In fact,
his class forms the world’s first and only chapter of IPMS consisting entirely
of youth.
“Studies have found that where many special ed kids have struggled in a lot of
areas … they can beat anyone at this,” he said, waving his hand over several
models and adding that his students’ models are frequently entered in and do
well in state competitions.
Students build two models of their choice each year, most of which are aircraft,
with the occasional classic car, tank and spaceship thrown in for good measure.
McLaughlin explained that he uses the club as a form of reward for his students,
encouraging them to complete their schoolwork in order to spend time on their
modeling on Friday afternoons.
“It’s a reward system,” he said. “If they get on the ball and get their work
done, then they know they get to do models. This teaches them responsibility.”
When McLaughlin first introduced his hobby to the class more than a decade ago,
students were skeptical. But, after a little patience, that skepticism gave way
to pride and confidence.
“At first, they were not that enthusiastic about it; they thought they couldn’t
do it,” McLaughlin explained. “But, after I showed them how to do it … they
realized they could do this just as well as anyone.”
Whitehead, who had finished judging the competition’s selection of classic cars,
moved to the front of the room and inserted with a friendly laugh his take on
how the students pick which models to build each year.
“If it’s a plane, it has to have bombs; if it’s a car, it has to have chrome,”
he said with a grin, adding that he enjoys visiting the classroom and club as
often as he can. The students’ dedication to modeling, and their pride in doing
well, serves as an inspiration, he said — one that never fails to provide an
emotional “pick-me-up” during rough times.
McLaughlin agreed that sharing his hobby with his students has been extremely
rewarding.
“I just like working with these kids,” McLaughlin admitted. “A lot of times,
these kids do struggle … They have a tough time, and that’s the kind of kid I
like: A kid who maybe is having trouble in school and isn’t doing well. I like
to show him that you don’t have to be a doctor; you just have to get by on your
bills, get it down to basics, and you can succeed … This gives them a good work
ethic and confidence to do well.”
In a way, McLaughlin’s classroom — littered with tanks and muscle cars and skies
filled with hundreds of aircraft — serves as a proving ground for his students.
It’s a physical location where these students can prove their capabilities.
“If you fail at things, and people call you names and really down you, after a
while you can really feel bad about it,” McLaughlin said. “But, this is a
confidence builder. [This is something they] can turn around and show people and
say, ‘Hey, look at this.’”
Despite a decade of hosting the model club, McLaughlin laughingly asserted that
some people still can’t believe his students built every single kit featured in
the classroom.
“People really are surprised,” he said, glancing upward at the bellies of
hundreds of planes. “They just can’t believe the kids did all of this.”
Appeared originally in the
Itawamba County Times, 5/14/2008, section A , page 2
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