Charlotte Middle, High School Teams Compete in American Rocketry Challenge Finals

The two teams from Victory Christian will be vying for $100,000 in prizes

Get ready for take off! Teams from Victory Christian (one middle school team and one high school team) are headed to the finals of the National Rocketry Competition in mid-June. Chemistry, calculus and physics teacher Kimberly Williams is the advisor for the two teams. She has successfully lead groups to compete in the event since 2012. “The challenge incorporates everything STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education is about and is actually fun,” she says.

That is the goal of the American Rocketry Challenge which first launched in 2002. The Aerospace Industry Association’s flagship program is designed to encourage students to consider careers around STEM disciplines.

This year, teams were charged with designing, building and launching a model rocket carrying one raw egg to three different altitudes and return both the rocket and the egg safely back to the ground within a determined time limit. For qualifying flights, groups had to launch the rocket 800 feet within 40 to 43 seconds and 775 feet within 39 to 42 seconds. To succeed in the finals they will have to go higher – launching the rocket 825 feet within 41 to 44 seconds. A task Williams says her teams are up for. “They worked really hard so I’m expecting victory,” she says.

The 100 national finalists were narrowed down from 600 teams and are competing at regional launch sites for more than $100,000 in prizes and, of course, bragging rights.