Living their lives on the fast track
`Stretching out to the corners of the gymnasium, the indoor roller coaster at Royal Oak Intermediate School appears gargantuan compared to its creators.
Twenty-four feet tall at its highest point and occupying 10,000 square feet, the fully-functional ride towers over the 135 eighth-graders who are its designers, builders and decorators. Students and four teachers have spent thousands of hours measuring, sawing, constructing, painting and decorating the wooden structure over the last three weeks.
They will launch a small, unmanned car on the track at 7 p.m. today.’