Competition encourages students to ‘Reach for the Stars’

  • Published
  • By Deidre Ortiz
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  The Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Center team recently partnered with the Tennessee section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) to host a free rocket launch competition for area students on July 26.

At the AEDC Gossick Leadership Center, 15 students ages 10-14 spent the day learning how to build and launch a solid-fuel powered rocket as part of the Reach for the Stars program.

Reach for the Stars is a national competition started by the Christa McAuliffe Challenger Learning Center in Sarasota, Fla., in hopes of getting youth interested in science.

Jack and Kathy Colpas, co-directors of Reach for the Stars, stated the purpose of the competition is to foster an interest in model rocketry, STEM subjects and aeronautics.

"Our goal is to share the unique educational experience of building and launching a solid-fuel powered model rocket," they said in a release.

Joe Sheeley, Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) senior technology engineer and AIAA Tennessee Section chairman, explained that for AEDC's competition, the STEM center provided students with all of the materials needed to build their rockets, while AIAA provided volunteers to help with the event.

"The students were taken through the build process step-by-step and volunteers were on hand to assist as needed," he said.

Once rockets were built, the students went outside to see if they could successfully launch their rockets and land them near the designated target.

The student who won the competition by getting her rocket the closest to the target was Savannah Bobo of Shelbyville.

Bobo has since been announced as the winner of the state Reach for the Stars competition, which makes her eligible for the national competition at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala.

Though this was the first time the event has been held at AEDC, those who had a hand in organizing the competition have said it was a great success.

"Overall the kids seemed to enjoy the event and participation, with the overwhelming favorite part being the actual launches," Jim Burns, Space Threat Assessment Testbed technical director and Pre-College Outreach chair for AIAA, said.

Sheeley agreed that competitions such as this one are fun and help in sparking students' interest in science.

"The neat thing about this event is that it's totally hands on and the students enjoy both building the rockets and then getting to take them home," he said.

Members of AIAA and the AEDC STEM team thank the Gossick Leadership Center staff and the volunteers for assisting with the event.