By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

Courtesy Photo Members of the Weare Middle School Rocketry Team 4100 “Challengers” will be competing in the fourth annual Team America Rocketry Challenge on Saturday, May 20, in Virginia. From left, rear, are Josh Belanger, Stephen Belanger, Wade Croteau, Corissa Gecks, Captain, Mark Kibler, team advisor, Christopher Kibler, Ashlee Hathaway, Tyler Becker, Captain, Mattathias Grossman. In front are Alex Dorey, Ryan Erf, Captain, Alison Hathaway and Nathalie Beaudoin.

With the Team America Rocketry Challenge only days away, members of the middle school’s competing team have a shot at a national victory.

“This has been a magical year,” said Mark Kibler, who teaches eighth-grade science at Weare Middle School and is advisor to the school’s Team 4100, also called “The Challengers,” in honor of Christa McAuliffe.

That team of 12 students, mostly eighth-graders, will be competing in the national rocketry challenge on Saturday, May 20, about 45 minutes outside of Washington, D.C.

The rocketry team is going to the national competition after a successful showing at a regional qualifying event in Amesbury, Mass., in which Weare’s team bested a field of mostly high-school competitors to achieve one of the top 10 scores in the nation at the time.

The challenge at the regional competition in Amesbury, and in the nationals in The Plains, Va., requires the team to launch a rocket into the air to an altitude of 800 feet with a flight time of 45 seconds without damaging the “astronaut” (an egg) inside. Accomplishing this task requires the use of scientific instruments, extensive planning, backup preparation, and precision one might expect from a true group of rocket scientists.

To get the rocket to reach its target altitude and flight time, Kibler said the team must adjust the rocket accounting for variables including barometric pressure, site altitude, relative humidity, wind speed and temperature in a software program, plus make sure the parachute opens properly and at the right diameter.

For a middle school team to compete successfully in a field mainly made up of high school teams is a remarkable achievement in itself, Kibler said.

“This is literally rocket science,” he said, noting that challenges such as this one will help the students advance in their high school, college, and ultimately professional study of the sciences.

Because team members have been making fundraising presentations in front of groups including the Lions, the Rotary and the American Legion, Kibler said preparing for the competition has also enhanced team members’ skills in public speaking.

Weare Middle School Principal David Pabst said these presentations also form a key part of the learning process.

“It’s been all positive,” Pabst said. “They’ve had great authentic learning experiences by doing presentations in front of groups. Most of the time, when students do a presentation, it will be in front of other middle school students. But (the rocketry team) has made presentations in front of organizations, and they’ve done an outstanding job.”

Weare Rocketry Team 4100 is still raising money for the trip to Washington, D.C., which Kibler said he estimates will cost $7,000.

To raise money for the trip, the team will be hosting a pasta dinner at Center Woods Elementary School, on Saturday, May 13 from 5 to 8 p.m. Members of the team will be there to serve dinner, which will cost $5 and feature an all-you-can-eat table of spaghetti, breads, side dishes and desserts.