This year, students from Washington have made significant strides in national rocketry competitions, demonstrating their skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Contrary to the narrative of waning interest in these fields, the excitement surrounding rocketry reveals a vibrant passion among young learners.
At Odle Middle School in Bellevue, the rocketry club has gained immense popularity, prompting teacher Brendan Williams to implement a lottery system for student participation. Recently, a team from the school, dubbed the Space Potatoes, achieved remarkable success in the Team America Rocketry Challenge in Washington, D.C., where they competed against 789 other teams and secured a top position.
The challenge required participants to launch two raw eggs to a precise altitude of 850 feet and ensure their safe return to Earth via parachute within a time frame of 44 to 46 seconds. The Space Potatoes not only accomplished this feat but also returned home with a $20,000 prize for their school and an opportunity to compete on an international stage this summer.
For eighth-grader Stephanie Han, the thrill of rocketry is undeniable. "Let’s go build a missile and shoot it off in the field. That sounds pretty awesome," she expressed. This enthusiasm is mirrored by students at Ingraham High School in Seattle, where their rocketry team received an invitation from NASA to participate in a competition typically reserved for college students. Their challenge was to design and construct a rocket capable of reaching a mile high, equipped with a wind turbine to generate electricity during its descent.
Lola Bradford, a senior and project manager for the Ingraham team, has been fascinated by building since childhood. Her early experiments with creating a mini overhead projector from household items led her to join the rocketry club in high school. "When I got to high school, it seemed natural to join either robotics or rocketry club so I could keep making things," she shared.
Redefining the Science Student
These students challenge the stereotype of the typical science enthusiast. Many admit they do not excel in every subject, often finding history to be a struggle. They are multifaceted individuals—artists, athletes, musicians—who, as Lola Bradford puts it, are explorers of the infinite. "I love space because it’s the future. Down is finite; up is infinite," she noted.
Here are some reflections from local students who may very well become the next generation of astrophysicists, all members of rocketry teams across Seattle, Bellevue, and Issaquah.
Creative Inspirations
Lola Bradford, Ingraham High School: "I love space because it’s so empty and cold. I love that space doesn’t care what anyone thinks of it. There are zillions of natural processes going along, jamming to their own rhythms, and they create fantastic complexity because they have no reason to be the same as each other."
Seongyong Hong, Ingraham High School: "I used to fill up my drawing book with sketches and diagrams, but rockets mostly lived in my fantasies. I was unaware that there is a community of tens of thousands of hobby and high-power rocket builders out there, ranging from middle-schoolers to those who lived through the Space Race."
The Excitement of Rocketry
Eli Sitchin, Ingraham High School: "The fire that comes out the bottom. The idea that a small plastic tube the size of an empty paper towel roll could lift a 15-pound rocket to a mile in the air is simply extraordinary."
Pranuti Kalidindi, Maywood Middle School, Issaquah: "The coolest thing about rockets is that they are a type of science that takes us beyond our home, Earth. Rockets connect humans to the unexplored, and they bring new knowledge of our origins, our existence, and the transformations of the universe."
Challenging Misconceptions
Emma Blumhagen, Ingraham High School: "People tend to see science-y kids as robot-people that intake pizza and output coding with no appreciation for the world’s beauty, which is what inspires us to learn as much as we can about the weird and wonderful phenomena of the universe."
Innovative Projects
Larry Jing, Odle Middle School: "I have been working on a model axial jet engine. Yes, it’s real."
Seongyong Hong, Ingraham High School: "I have been designing and building prosthetic arms as a part of the national MESA (Math, Engineering, Science, and Achievement) challenge. The challenge is meant to seek innovative solutions for a low-cost, yet functional prosthetic arm for the millions of impoverished amputees around the world."
Academic Hurdles
Pranuti Kalidindi, Maywood Middle School, Issaquah: "Science, because I try to always learn more and I like to face multiple challenges. Science is my most difficult and most favorite subject."
Dyuthi Nair, Skyline High School, Issaquah: "Writing, because it is very subjective. There is no single right answer so you don’t know if yours is one."