FaithManor Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Our rocket team went to the Warren Tech Center on Thursday where they ran a STEM booth, presented informally on rocketry and aerospace engineering, and made organic batteries with 115 children most of whom were 8-11 years of age. All seven team members were there and did an absolutely outstanding job earning many compliments from GM techs, engineers, managers, and executives. But, here is the big brag. Five of the team members chose to enter the team presentation competition this year at TARC national finals. They've been working very hard on this, and it's not at all easy this season because NAR upped the requirements quite a bit, and the amount of engineering that has to be covered in 6 minutes is sizeable. Dh arranged for them to get the use of a conference room in order to practice in front of large groups of engineers. They gave their presentation twice including a question and answer period after. They knocked it out of the park! There was not a single question they could not answer readily and confidently. A former oral communications professor from Oakland University was in the group - and he said he was floored, never expected that level of public speaking from high school students, and only gave two tiny pieces of advice. My middle boy, a payload design specialist, when asked about the center of pressure in relation to the center of gravity, accurately explained the Barrowman's Equations to a room of people the bulk of whom hold BS's, MS's, and PH.D's in electical, automotive, or robotics engineering. Never made a mistake and made it appear easy. Meanwhile, down in the main area, while the presentation team was busy with that, the other two team members, W and C, manned the booth by themselves. W singlehandedly talked with over 100 GM employees and their children about principles of rocketry and this season's adventures, while C completed the science project with 22 eight and nine year olds. I stood at the side with dh's executive manager marveling at the sight and never had to help even once. You'd have thought we were watching two very seasoned teachers at work, not two 10th graders. Sometimes you get to witness a group of students do something amazing and you have the pleasure of and privilege of being a part of it! After their hardwork, we wanted them to have some fun and took them over to the drive event for some ride alongs in 2013/14 camaros. Though the corvettes were not available for driving, they were parked on the sidewalk at the VEC center so we have pics of the kids behind the wheel and one of all of them with the yellow one. They have a public facebook account, so if you'd like to take a look, www.facebook.com and search for Deford Dazzlers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Love reading this brag! Great job to all 7! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Faith, thanks so much for sharing this experience. I have to admit it made me a bit tearful. You and the other team members parents must be so proud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbbulliv Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Super like!!! Well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Yea! Big atta boy (and girl) for the whole team and the leaders. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Congratulations to all! :hurray: :party: :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 It's definitely reports like this that give me hope for the future of our society and world. It sure beats the reports often shared on the local news. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 That's wonderful! I'm so happy for all of you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 yeah!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeaTotaler Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: Congratulations to all! What a fantastic job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted April 29, 2014 Author Share Posted April 29, 2014 Thanks everyone. T-minus 7.5 days. We leave a week from tomorrow. They flew a 4 and a 10 on Sunday which are super low scores and we just found out they were assigned to the early morning flight window which with Virginia's weather patterns in that area is generally the best launch window of the day. So, we have our fingers crossed that they'll do well. I'm pretty bad. I stand at the fence WILLING that rocket to fly well and those parachutes to deploy properly. I'm more nervous than they are! Rocket mom is not an easy job if you ask me, LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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