For release 4/1/2009
Contact: Phil Houseal, Ignite Education, phil@fullhouseproductions.net
or
Maypearl Secondary - (972) 435-1020

Even the sky might not be the limit for students enrolling in a new class to be offered for the first time at Maypearl (Texas) Secondary School. Starting this fall, science teacher and department chair Rebekah Hyatt will teach the SystemsGo Aeroscience course that will have students designing, building, and launching rockets up to one mile high.

Hyatt learned about the innovative course during a summer conference offered by the Science Teachers Association of Texas.

"What really impressed me was the fact that this approach to learning science nurtures problem solving," Hyatt said. "I like the mindset that if my first attempt didn't work, don't quit, but try to learn what will work. It will also open up opportunities for our students in engineering and related fields."

The SystemsGo approach to learning is project-based. The emphasis is on defining a problem and guiding the students to discover the solutions. The rocketry course began in the 1990s in Fredericksburg High School teacher Brett Williams' classes. For the past three years, the nonprofit Ignite, Inc. has helped roll out the SystemsGo courses across the state, with 26 high schools currently participating.

Each spring students and teachers gather in Fredericksburg to launch the rockets they designed and built. This year's event is set for April 24 - 26, 2009. Last year NBC Nightly News covered the launches on its weekly segment "Making a Difference."

First-year students work on building a launch vehicle that can carry a one-pound payload one mile high.

The Maypearl ISD administration and board of trustees have supported adding the SystemsGo course starting in the fall for both juniors and seniors. The following year Hyatt hopes to add the second level, in which students build rockets that soar beyond 12,000 feet and break the sound barrier. Hyatt will attend a teacher training course in Fredericksburg, Texas, this summer to learn how to integrate these courses into the high school offerings.

"We are so excited about this," said Hyatt, who as a child enjoyed putting junkyard parts together and working with her father trying to make them work. "In this class, we will be giving our students a problem and letting them figure it out. This is what kids should be doing in school. Besides, what kid wouldn't want to build a rocket?"

Links to the NBC video and more information on SystemsGo is online at www.igniteeducation.org.