Their first reaction is one of amazement: a hands-on look into the future.
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Parked in the yard of the Village Community School, students are getting first-hand lessons in the technology, design and potential of the Buckeye Bullet 3, the world's fastest electric car.
Ohio State University's Center for Automotive Research has teamed with Venturi Automobile, a European electric car manufacturer, to develop the Buckeye Bullet.
The 38-foot long carbon fiber car has reached record speeds of 342 and 358 miles an hour, powered by 80 lithim ion batteries and four electric motors generating 3,000 horsepower.
Educators at the West Village independent school, given this unique opportunity, saw the car and its developers offering a special hands-on learning experience.
"It took a few years to first develop the concept and then to begin in 2014 to begin racing on the salt flats with this vehicle and this is a slow progress," said Dr. Giorgio Rizzoni of Ohio State University.
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"We actually teach a S.T.E.A.M. class, which is science, technology, engineering, art and math," said the head of the school, Eve Kleger. "And to me this is an example of what those disciplines can create."
The Buckeye Bullet's next stop is the New York International Auto Show, where visitors will learn from program manager David Cooke of its next possible conquest.
"We are trying to go 400 miles an hour for the first ever with an electric vehicle," said Cooke.
And with questions flying faster than the car on the Bonneville Salt Flats, who knows what the future holds for these students.
"We want to have them with that optimistic approach to creation and design thinking, and solving the problems of the world," said Kleger.