I am a veteran educator who is teaching Earth and Space Science to high school 10-12 graders seeking a standard high school diploma. I serve many different groups of students with various needs (special education, 504, ESL/ELL, occupational diploma, and regular diploma programs). I deal with many at-risk students daily. Many of my students are living in poverty, so they often have not had many experiences to travel or to experience things outside of their city. This class allows them to travel to new places and see what they can do. It shows them that they can dream, think, work together, and achieve things that they never thought possible before. I intend to take them there and show them the way through education.

One of my former students had done water rockets at his school in another state. He introduced this to me and I have been hooked on it ever since then. Normally, I have teaching funds from our state. This year my funds have been cut to $100 for the entire year. It would not be enough to fund this project as we have done it in the past. When we have done Rocket Day in the past, many teachers in the school bring their classes to watch the excitement. I use this as a recruiting tool to get students interested in science. Students have jobs during launches, just like a NASA launch. The students love this and it makes them want to learn, help each other, and they also realize that they are capable of doing something that will shine with success. The ultimate compliment is when a student invites a parent or guardian to the launch to watch. Without adequate funding this year, I would have to greatly reduce the number of rockets produced or pay for this out of my own pocket (which I just cannot do this year). I want to be able to inspire students with this project as I have been able to in the past. That is why I am seeking funding this year.

I have requested some unique resources. The duct tape is used to secure 2-liter soft drink bottles together. The poster board is used to make the bottles more aerodynamic and also helps to secure the rockets together. The card stock is utilized to make nose cones and for fin templates for the rockets. The rulers will be used to measure the fins and for placement of the fins on the rockets. The scissors will be used to cut tape, plastic bottles, and poster board neatly. The stopwatches will be used to calculate the times for the rockets during flight. The times are used in a formula to calculate altitude and also to show how good the aerodynamics of the rockets are in flight. The alti-track instrument is used to calculate altitude another way. We will then compare the calculated altitude with the alti-track altitude and see how close these numbers are to one another. Teamwork will be essential during the building process and on launch day. Every student will have a unique job. Their skills and patience will be tested. This project will have a finished rocket for each group with a visible outcome for their hard work in class.

Many of my students have no plans past high school. They just want to graduate and go to work. I want to show them that they are capable of going to college, finding financial aid, choosing a decent career, and learning to work with others to accomplish a goal. My students can be very good and determined workers when someone encourages and pushes them on a little bit. I want to be that person who makes them think, do, and go past what they have done in the past. This project makes many students realize at this point in their life, that they can be successful in college, that they can achieve a goal, and that they can finish what they start. This water rocket project is a simple way to get many at-risk students interested in school again. When I have done this project in the past, there were very few absences from class during this time. That says a lot about how the students like this project.