Young Engineers Building Sky-High Futures

Abby Reed is wrapping up second grade this week, but she already has hopes to get into the same line of work as her dad.

When asked about where she might like to work, she smiled at her dad.

"Um, maybe NASA," she said.

With the help of some local educators, Abby's space dreams could become a reality. She is learning to apply her knowledge to hands-on projects in Engineering for Kids–a program new to Anne Arundel County.

Lauren Rakvic, an elementary school teacher in the county, came up with the idea to bring the program to local students, with the support of her engineer husband. She likes to see young kids get excited about using their knowledge to build bottle rockets and miniature parachutes, learning to enhance their projects through trial and error.

"I think this is really just a natural extension of what they're doing in school," Rakvic told Patch. "We really focus on the engineering design process and teaching kids how to ask questions."

After the eight kids all launched their rockets, Rakvic asked the kids why the rockets some rockets twirled high into the sky, while others sputtered into a crash landing. Some pointed out inconsistent shape of fins or a mistake in their construction.

"We can't really get everyone's amount of water perfectly the same, so I think maybe that affected how high it went," Abby said.

Ravic nodded, "Right, so it wasn't really a consistent variable."

The program is just starting out with weekly after-school sessions at the Severna Park Community Center, but Rakvic hopes to spread the program to several schools throughout the county by the time classes start up in the fall.

Based in Fredericksburg, VA, the Engineering for Kids programs help young people engage their interest in math and science at more than 50 locations throughout the country. For more information, visit the Engineering for Kids website.