A rat named Ghost can now steer his own open-air car through homemade mazes, mostly by following his nose, after five months of training by students at a special education classroom in Wynantskill. The project, led by teacher Colleen Mahar at the Richard A. Desrochers Educational Center, started with a one-month-old rat and a kit for building a rat-drivable vehicle, and it has since grown into something closer to a full curriculum built around patience, problem-solving and peanut butter.
According to the Times Union, students at the center trained Ghost to drive a car, play basketball and navigate mazes over the course of the five-month project. Mahar bought Ghost as a one-month-old rat and ordered the kit that would become his car: an open-air, transparent box controlled with pedals. Ghost steers mostly by scent, the outlet reports, sniffing forward at intervals of about one foot before stopping once a treat is within reach.
From Nutri-Grain Bars to a Tambourine Target
Training began simply, with students initially rewarding Ghost with Nutri-Grain bars, per the same account. He later learned to aim for a Cheerio balanced on a pipe cleaner attached to a tambourine, a step toward the more complex tasks that followed. Those tasks now include basketball: Ghost can pick up a rat-sized ball and carry it to a miniature hoop, though he has not yet managed to throw the ball through it.
Kyle, a 17-year-old student described as having worked with Ghost more than most of his classmates, is the one teaching him basketball. Hannah, a 20-year-old student also quoted in the report, said rats can be difficult to train and may initially be scared — a reminder that Ghost's current skill set didn't come easily. Middle school classes at the center built mazes for Ghost to navigate, and he completed each class's maze before driving his car for that group, the article notes. Students are now working on a maze he can drive through in the car itself.
Teaching Life Skills Through a Rat
Mahar, a special education teacher at the center, said her goal was to give students experiences they would not get elsewhere. She used the rat project to teach students how to divide large tasks into smaller, manageable steps, saying those task-breaking skills would carry over into daily life. The report describes students practicing problem-solving, patience and positive-reinforcement techniques throughout the process — skills built into a classroom that is alternatively assessed rather than graded through standardized testing.
Lisa Nappi, vice president of educational services at the school, said Mahar's classroom ideas are outside the box. Mahar has ambitions for Ghost beyond the classroom, too: she plans to find a Guinness World Records title he might be able to beat, and students have said they want to see Ghost appear on CNN.
How Ghost's Training Compares to College Research
Rat-driving projects aren't unique to the Desrochers Center. Research into the concept dates back to a study first published in 2019, according to University of Richmond Magazine, and the university's work has continued since, with new cars and components added over time, per University of Richmond News. In that lab, researchers crafted their first rodent vehicle out of a plastic cereal container, with rats grasping a wire that functioned as a gas pedal, The Conversation reported. Later vehicles were designed by Randolph-Macon College robotics professor John McManus and his students, according to the magazine's account.
That research also found that rats housed in enriched environments with toys, space and companions learned to drive faster than those kept in standard cages, per The Conversation. In one motivation test, two of three driving-trained rats chose to turn away from a nearby treat and instead run back to their car to drive to it — opting for the less efficient but apparently more rewarding path. Researchers in that same lab began examining how positive events and anticipation affect neural function after observing rat behavior in the summer of 2020, the magazine reported.
A Program Rooted in a 193-Year-Old Nonprofit
The Richard A. Desrochers Educational Center is run by the nonprofit Vanderheyden and serves 104 students in grades 7 through 12, including both day students and those living on Vanderheyden's campus or in its group homes. The center is a Regents-accredited program through the New York State Department of Education, located at 614 Cooper Hill Road in Wynantskill, according to Vanderheyden. Vanderheyden itself has operated for 193 years, tracing its roots back to the Troy Orphan Asylum, and today serves adults and youth with special needs.
For now, Ghost's accomplishments remain centered on that Wynantskill classroom — steering his transparent box car by scent, clearing mazes built by middle schoolers, and inching closer to his first basketball through the hoop. Whether he ever lands a Guinness record or a CNN appearance remains to be seen, but according to his teachers, he already likes peanut butter and cuddles just fine.
