SRHS Science Teacher Awarded Citibank Success Fund Grant

Seminole Ridge science teacher Mr. Erich Landstrom will receive a Citibank Success Fund Grant of $841 to launch his Rocket POWER (Positive Outcomes While Enjoying Reading) program. During Rocket POWER, students at Seminole Ridge will read and discuss the special talents and training necessary to become a rocket scientist. They will then be challenged to design, construct, fly and recover handmade, high-powered model rockets with two “egg-stronauts” onboard.

The Citibank Success Fund awards cash grants to support innovative classroom learning projects that encourage at-risk students to succeed in academics and stay in school. These funds, awarded by the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County and Citibank, allow educators to develop innovative, easily replicable, grassroots programs, providing students with an opportunity to succeed and to associate that success with continued school attendance. Landstrom will receive the grant check during a dinner reception on Tuesday, Sept. 25 at the West Palm Beach Marriott. The money will be spent on books and rocket construction supplies.

During weekly meetings of an after-school SECME Club (Science, Engineering, Communication and Mathematics Enhancement), students will read non-fiction, how-to books on model rocketry, including The Handbook of Model Rocketry and Rocket Boys: A Memoir, the autobiographical reminiscences of children whose lives were influenced by rocketry.

SECME students will then design, construct, and fly their own high-powered model rocket. This rocket, with a payload of two raw Grade-A large eggs, must reach a specific altitude of 750 feet and return undamaged to the ground within 45 seconds.

Rocket POWER hopes to:

• Spark enthusiasm for careers in aerospace among students;

• Curb dropout prevention by demonstrating the practical application of science, technology, engineering and mathematics;

• Provide positive outcomes while enjoying reading;

• Deliver foundational knowledge of aerospace principles in math and geometry, in sciences ranging from physics to meteorology, and engineering.