Russellville High School and Tharptown High School students are shooting for the stars with recent accomplishments in rocketry. Three teams from RHS and one from THS have advanced to the national competition of the Team America Rocketry Challenge.

The national finals will take place May 12 at Great Meadow in the Plains, Va., near Washington, D.C.

“What excites me about this incredible competition is how every year it inspires thousands of young women and men to consider careers in STEM fields and aerospace,” said Aerospace Industries Association President and CEO Eric Fanning. “Qualifying for the National Finals and ultimately representing the United States at the international competition involves teamwork, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.”

Team work, critical thinking and problem-solving skills are some of the values THS teacher Marsha Inmon agreed her students are learning through the rocketry program.

“It’s real world skills. They learn how to work together and deal with time and budget constraints. They’re learning how to think on their feet,” Inmon said.

What makes rocketry competitions different from other STEM competitions like robotics, according to THS student Annslee Bottoms, is how interactive it is and how the students have the chance to work on the rockets in real time rather than only getting one shot at it for the competition. Once the students complete a launch, they are able to check an altimeter in the rocket that measures properties like the height the rocket traveled and make their adjustments for the next launch, based on that information.

“It’s so amazing seeing them put it all together and then after a launch take it all apart, figure out the problem and fix it,” RHS teacher Donna Sykes said.

Both city and the county schools have been boosting their career and technical education departments this year, which includes organizations like the rocketry club. Out of the six teams that qualified for the state of Alabama, RHS is the only school with three teams going to nationals, and this is the first year THS has had a rocketry club at all.

The level of skill required to be competitive in rocketry has not daunted the students, according to Bottoms and Sykes.

“We picked it up pretty quickly. They’re all smart girls and fast learners,” Bottoms said of her teammates.

Sykes said even though all of the work was on the students, they didn’t falter and are “fully capable of the work.”

Tracey Burns mentors RHS teams. Andrew Heath mentors the THS team.

Franklin County

TARC students

THS:

Destin Martin

Annslee Bottoms

Perla Chavez

Alea Gatson

Presley Laster

RHS Bears:

Katelyn Burns

Seth Burns

McKinley Copeland

Rudy Huarcas

Jessica Morrow

RHS Lions:

Malachi Fleming

MaKayla Gann

Mia Gann

Zakery Colburn

Emma Reed

RHS Tigers:

Elijah Hawkins

Mardoqueo Soto

Carie Ruth

Connor Byars

Bailey Hargett