Outreach Report - Crestview Elementary (5/15/2006)
Science Launch
Sorry to say Paul and I had to cancel the 21 team launch
scheduled for the morning of the 12th. Rain, cold temps and wind
gusts to 29 mph made for a miserable day and a no go to the planned
launch. The 50 kids have planned on this day since sometime in
March. The teacher told us how disappointed the kids were to hear
the cancellation. Even if we could
have launched nobody would have enjoyed the weather.
We rescheduled for Monday the 15th.
Today (May 15th) the rescheduled launch took place at
Crestview Elementary School in Cottage Grove. Jessica Mace is the
Math & Science teacher for the 50 Gifted and Talented students in
the Rocketry event.
Paul and I arrived at 7:15 to check in and to be ready for
the 8:15 start time. We asked the Principal where to set up. He put
us in the corner ball diamond. Good thing we asked because the Phy-Ed
teacher wasn't happy about our being there. A call back to the
Principal solved that for the rest of the morning. Paul
quickly built 4 pvc launch pads last Thursday to compliment his 4
place controller. This worked very well for this type of launch.
We had Jessica Mace set up a table just outside the school
as a prep area. I gave a demo with one of the rockets and then let
the teacher and kids proceed. When they were done they came in teams
to the flight line. Paul had it roped off so we would have
four teams ready and 4 teams waiting in line. The other teams
remained by the prep table until one cycle moved forward.
We had 50 kids in 21 teams ready to launch today. As they
checked in with me I would assign them pads 1 through 4. Those 4
teams went out to the pads where Paul showed them the procedure.
They choose one member of each team to do the actual launch. So we
had a steady stream of rocketeers in an orderly fashion of 4 teams
per cycle.
The 21 teams built and flew the E2X Generic on A8-3's. There
was quite a difference in motor performance. We had 2 shorted
igniters which were fixed. One misfire and 3 separations with most
of the others having a flight of 15 - 25 secs. We didn't lose a
rocket.
Everyone enjoyed this launch. Jessica, Paul and I were
pleased how well it all went. The Principal watched almost all of
the flights and he seemed quick happy with the results.
A photographer for a local paper took many shots during the
entire launch.
Paul and his equipment did the bulk of range work while I
tried to coordinate the prep table, the flight line and final check
in before Paul took the teams out to the pads. I also made notes on
the flights and timed them. Results were put on a team listing sheet
I asked Jessica to provide.
It went so well that Paul offered to do it again if Jessica
and the school so wanted next year.
Sometimes things go just right. The actual launch didn't
start until 8:45 and by 9:30 we pretty much had the launch complete.
It took another 30-45 minutes to clean up and check out. We left
around 10:15 or so.
[Ken Jarosch]
The South Washington County Bulletin newspaper ran an
article with many photos about this outreach event!
Rocket project tops list
05/17/2006 Last modified: 05/17/2006 11:57 AM
Some people assume students identified by school officials as
“gifted and talented” do not have difficulties and do not need
special help such as students who struggle with reading and math do.
"After being postponed because of rain, Crestview students
in a class for gifted and talented, saw the rockets they made go
200-feet up Monday morning. Student teams built, decorated, and
installed firing mechanisms. Ken and Paul Jarosch coached the
students and provided launch structures. Bulletin photo by Judy
Spooner"
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