This is Drive Electric Dayton's fourth year of hosting Earth Day at Trotwood-Madison High School which is attended predominately by African-American students. Our guest speaker at this year's event was 22 year old Malachi Locke, an Assistant Program Engineering Manager at General Motors for the Cadillac Optiq program. A recent graduate from Michigan State University earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Malachi concentrated his focus on Aerospace studies. He is a mechanical engineer with a strong foundation in automotive systems, especially in noise and vibrations, emissions standards, and braking technologies; and with hands-on experience in brake systems development, vehicle chassis testing, and propulsion system calibration. He spoke before 220 Trotwood-Madison science students plus guests, speaking to the students on the necessity of preparing for their future now through diligent and consistent work in their studies. He shared his experiences with the pursuit of his dreams and the passion he holds for the opportunities to develop electric vehicles for Cadillac.

Students were receptive to Mr. Locke's presentation, asking pertinent questions and offering a rousing applause. The students, guests, science staff and Drive Electric Dayton volunteers went outdoors to see our EV Showcase: Cadillac Optiq, Tesla Model Y, Volkswagen ID4, Cadillac Lyriq, Chevrolet Bolt, and Tesla Cybertruck. Each year, our students are presented with free ice pops from Sweet P's Handcrafted Ice Pops, a local African-American business that is present with each of our Earth Day events at the high school. Our event this year was sponsored by Tyr Energy Development, TED, Renewables, which focuses on clean and renewable generation technology