Miss Beck’s ‘Rocket Launch’ Days at S-C Soar Higher Every Year

Seniors in Corissa Beck’s English Language Arts (ELA) class were asked to form teams and build rockets to be launched on the school’s soccer field on Thursday and Friday. And they did.

The reason for the rockets (made out of simple materials like water bottles filled with water under pressure or with vinegar and baking soda, for instance) was to help illustrate a book the seniors read called October Sky by Homer Hickam, Jr.

The book and the tie-in with the homemade rockets has become a tradition in Beck’s class, now in its fourth year. And the seniors are always eager to take part in this particular exercise near the end of the academic year as they inch closer to graduation.

“This was the most successful year launching so far regarding variety of rockets and how high they flew,” Beck stated.

One of those teams, called Rad Squad, led by Garrett Jones, stepped up to this reporter to voice their appreciation and excitement for the chance to take part in this segment of Ms. Beck’s class.

Jones was joined by Vander Wilson, Jackson Hawkins, T. Johnson, Arlo Hughes and Casey Gannon on the Rad Squad.

“We all got a chance to take part in building the rocket and what exactly we wanted to do, so on the very first day, we all brainstormed and looked it up on Google to see what was the best way to do this,” Jones told KSIS.

“And when it came to actually building the rocket, half of our group focused on designing it, and then the other half of our group focused on putting it all together,” Jones said, “and a lot of it was trying to make sure that the cork would actually stay inside of it, and that our rocket would be aerodynamic.”

Jackson Hawkins came up with the color scheme.

The propellent consisted of a bicycle pump attached to a cork inserted in the plastic bottle to build up pressure until it was time to release for launch.

The amount of water inside the bottle was critical. Too much and the rocket was too heavy to launch. Too little and there was not enough energy to launch the bottle off the wooden launch pad, which was supplied by Beck. Turns out filling the bottle one-third with water was the magical level for a successful launch.

Was Jones happy with the results?

“I’m very happy with the performance. It worked a lot better than I thought it was going to, I’ll be honest,” Jones replied.

Jones on to explain that October Sky is about pushing forward and breaking new ground.

“This is the first time I’ve ever built a rocket. This was very new, and it was actually very exciting to figure out what would work out and what wouldn’t work to launch it,” Jones said, noting the idea of pushing forward as all the seniors prepare to start a new chapter in their lives and leave Smith-Cotton.

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Casey Gannon said that working together on the project allowed them to get to know one another a lot better.

It was noted that besides being amateur rocket engineers, the Rad Squad (the name was based on a video game) is comprised of theatre club members as well.

“This is a way that we are able to incorporate science into English class. The students every year seem to really enjoy doing a project at the end of a novel. Especially the seniors. It's the last thing they do before they graduate,” Beck noted.

In the novel, The Rocket Boys learned how to build actual rockets, but students at S-C were not allowed to build rockets that explode, or use sulfur, for instance.

The Rocket Boys were following their dreams to leave Coalwood, West Virginia in October of 1957.

Similarly, the S-C Seniors are about to leave high school and go after their dreams. “Whatever their future may look like, they kinda have to take charge and create a plan and go with that plan. And even if something fails, they have to go back, reflect and fix it, and try again,” she said.

“If someone's rocket doesn't launch, they do have the option of (trying again) That's kind of what life is all about. If at first you don't succeed, you go back, you reevaluate, you see what you did wrong, you fix it, and you try again,” Beck said.

Three teams will be doing just that on Monday and Tuesday.

Beck is aware of each group's plan and each member's duties. “They have to do a lot of collaborating” bringing science and literature together” and focusing on “construct & deliver.”

The rocket boys launch project, which Beck created in 2022 when she first started teaching, has been a big hit with students every year.

“It's something the students look forward to,” Beck noted, adding that she gets asked all the time if this year's seniors will be doing the rocket launch. And she replies, “Yes, of course they are.”

Beck said that the rocket launch adds excitement to an English Arts class that may not be everyone's favorite, especially in their senior year, but she tries to make the subject a bit little cooler.

“I try to make learning enticing and memorable, and everyone gets something out of it. Not everyone's going to have the same takeaway … It's really cool to see their brains working in a different way,” Beck noted.

“More people are watching us now,” Beck said. “They find out about the rocket launches and want to watch.”

One special guest watching Friday morning's session was Superintendent Todd Fraley. It just so happens that Dr. Fraley is originally from West Virginia.

“The students really appreciated that the superintendent came out and supported them, and we just keep having more support every year,” she noted, adding that next year she would like to see some parents come out and watch their child launch a homemade rocket into the beautiful blue skies of Missouri.

“ I couldn't have asked for a better outcome,” Beck concluded. “I'm so, so proud of them.”