Rocketry Students Successfully Launch in Fredericksburg

On Friday, May 13, 16 Georgetown ISD (GISD) Rocketry students traveled to Fredericksburg to launch rockets they had been working on since December of 2021. The students, from both East View High School (EVHS) and Georgetown High School (GHS), have the opportunity to build rockets and study aeroscience curriculum through a SystemsGo program.

SystemsGo is an innovative high school rocketry curriculum that uses project-based learning to teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM); to develop skills in teamwork, problem-solving, and leadership; and to encourage careers in the engineering industries. 

There are four stages of the SystemsGo rocketry launch, beginning with student research and presentation building in stage 1. The students must gather information and build out a decision matrix – a tool that helps business analysts and other stakeholders evaluate and prioritize options with greater clarity and objectivity – and present it in order to be signed off to receive $900 from SystemsGo for the build of the rocket. 

“After stage 1, students had to actually start designing and ordering parts while I just translated the purchase orders,” Georgetown High School science teacher and rocketry instructor Nicole Bolen said. “They spent the entire spring building, designing, and finishing the rocket on their own.”  

GISD rocketry students were split into three teams for the launch project, all of which made it stage 4 – the final launch day.

Two of the rockets fully launched, while the third one experienced trouble from the engine never igniting. The third one’s inability to fully launch was not due to the work of the students, but to the engine failing to ignite.

To see those rockets launch when the time came… It was relieving,” Bolen said. “They each made it off the pad, which is something I was really worried wasn’t going to happen.” 

Considering this is Bolen’s first year teaching rocketry, achieving (almost) three out of three rocket launches is a huge accomplishment. A lot of rocketry teams do not even make it to stage 4, and out of the 16 rockets that were present on launch day, 12 launched.

“It is important to note that, yes, I taught them, but these students did the trouble-shooting, building and designing all on their own,” Bolen said. “There was a lot of problem-solving that showed students they are capable of difficult things.”

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To learn more about SystemsGo, visit their website at https://www.systemsgo.org.