FAIRMONT — On May 19, students from Marion County Schools were at the Great Meadow Field event center in The Plains, Virginia, eagerly awaiting the launch of their latest model rocket.
After months of preparation and grading pitches, students Kaylin Pyle, Maddy Armentrout, Claire Drainer and Savannah Corder found themselves on the brink of a new milestone in their lives.
“Once we got to the second round, we were really excited to compete,” said team captain and East Fairmont High junior Kaylin Pyle. “We didn’t expect to get this far and we are very grateful to have had that place.”
That venue gave these students the opportunity to perform a launch that secured them sixth place in the national American Rocketry Challenge competition. Pyle and her fellow students on the “Bumblebees Rocketry” team won $3,500, with an additional $500 going to the school and $500 for the “Best Dressed Award.” It’s a record-breaking placement for the Marion County Rockets team.
After graduating from East Fairmont High School in the 2010s, rocketry students were no longer able to continue the discipline. In response, Ed Pill formed an all-county team for high school students in 2015, allowing them to continue developing their interest in rocketry.
After more than a decade of development, West Virginia student rocket teams are now making their way to the top national rankings.
The team worked all year building, designing and testing their rockets in hopes of earning a national ranking score. The work was carried out almost entirely by students.
“They meet for a few hours once or twice a week. They 3D print everything except the cardboard tubes, and they do all the design work, including their own parachutes,” Pill said.
More than just trying to create a winning rocket, the program has impacted these students in many ways.
“Being a part of this has definitely allowed me to learn from others, work with other people’s opinions and taught me how to work with people better,” Pyle said.
The skills acquired through rocketry are applicable not only in one’s career, but also in life, Pill said.
“They’ve learned a lot about being independent and it takes them out of their comfort zone,” Pill said. “They may find themselves in a situation where the rocket is not flying and they have to figure out what to do on the fly, and that thinking helps them in life.”
Todd Ensign, program director at NASA’s Educational Resource Center in Fairmont, has worked with rocket teams in West Virginia since their genesis.
“I went to Nationals and realized this is the biggest student rocketry competition in the world,” he said. “We could be anywhere in the country, but for us in West Virginia the national competition is a safe bet because we can be there almost without a doubt.”
These rocket teams are particularly important to West Virginia. As the state focuses on becoming a high-tech hub, space is one of the targeted growth industries. TMC Technologies and WVU are working to make low Earth orbit accessible through the use of small satellites.
Todd said competing in rocketry events has inspired students to pursue careers in rocketry and other fields related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. “The role we play is to create that spark through these opportunities,” he said.
The team is excited about what is expected to happen next year. New students will join their team next month, trained by the older students to improve their rocketry skills.
Pyle reflected on his future plans.
“I actually wanted to go into astrophysics for a while, but then I gave up,” he said. “I’m actually going to major in chemistry after next year, but I’ll definitely continue making rockets for the rest of my life.”
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