At the beginning the of the 2017-2018 school year, a group of 4th grade boys approached me. They wanted mentors! We did not currently have mentors available for them, so the boys decided they wanted to form a lunch group. We worked together to decide what topics would be covered, and the STEM and Leadership group was born! Together we tried different science experiments and connected scientific principals to leadership qualities like careful listening and resilience. At the beginning of the spring semester the group was ready for the next step. They decided they wanted to tackle rockets! Together we dove into learning about space, aerodynamics, and rocketry.
As CIS Site Coordinator, my job is to help empower students to reach their goals, but in this instance there was one slight problem. I have built and launched a rocket exactly once … when I was in the sixth grade. I had no idea which type of rocket would be the best for our group to build, or how to really plan the process. So I did what anyone would do and took my search to Google. A PTA in California popped up as running a similar program, so I sent a quick email, not really expecting to hear anything back quickly. A couple of hours later my office phone rang and on the other end of the phone was Erick. He had received my email, and was returning my call because he is the NASA aerospace engineer who leads the California group. I may have laughed out loud at the fact that I was attempting to run the same kind of group as an actual rocket scientist! He was incredibly helpful, though, and based on his advice we moved forward with building our Estes Alpha III rockets.
During construction the group demonstrated amazing teamwork and perseverance. They made sure each component of their rockets was just right by following directions, discussing the best course of action and helping each other problem solve. We also did additional research by watching numerous YouTube videos.
Launch day finally arrived and we completed three successful launches to the maximum altitude of 675ft with a recovery range of over 500 ft (thanks to 12mph winds). The group’s classmates were able to come cheer them on, which was really fun. It was absolutely fantastic to watch the group’s nervous anticipation turn to cheers and increased confidence with each successful launch. I’m incredibly proud of this group’s hard work, and love that their passion pushed me out of my own comfort zone to learn along with them. This job is just the best.
