Team America Rocketry Challenge

Two Wicomico High School Teams to Compete in Final Round of the Team America Rocketry Challenge

Two teams from Wicomico High School are among the top 100 student rocketry teams in the country that will compete next month in the final round of competition of the 2009 Team America Rocketry Challenge.

The seventh annual TARC -- the world's largest rocket contest -- will take place May 16 at Great Meadow in The Plains, Va. The final competition gives middle and high school students a chance to earn part of a total prize package of $60,000 in scholarships and other prizes.

Wicomico High School’s TARC Team 1 rocket is called B N S (for its paint job of black ‘n’ silver). Team members are Lyndsey Buck, senior, Alex Seo, senior, Andrew Seo, sophomore, Kaleb Barrett, freshman, and Sean Atkinson, senior.

TARC Team 2’s rocket is named Epic, and is painted in the school colors of blue and yellow. Team members are Scott Kephart, sophomore, Victoria Wright, freshman, Brandon Hudson, freshman, Hannah Silbert, freshman, and Natasha Maldonado, freshman.

Faculty advisor for the TARC teams is Janice Austin, Wicomico High School math teacher.

The list of finalists is available at www.rocketcontest.org. A total of 653 teams from 45 states and the District of Columbia took part in the qualifying rounds of competition.

Teams design, build and launch model rockets with a raw-egg payload that must return to the ground unbroken. This year's contest goals are an altitude of 750 feet and a flight time of 45 seconds. The rockets must transport the egg laid horizontally to mimic the position of an astronaut.

AIA co-sponsors the event with the National Association of Rocketry in conjunction with NASA, the Defense Department, the American Association of Physics teachers and 34 AIA member companies. The goal of the contest is to bolster student interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics -- STEM -- education in an effort to attract young people to aerospace careers.

Two AIA companies provide premium prizes. Raytheon will once again provide a fully paid trip for the winning team to the International Paris Air Show in June. And Lockheed Martin will provide $5,000 scholarships to each of the top three teams. NASA also invites top teams to participate in advanced rocketry programs.

For more information about TARC, visit www.rocketcontest.org.