Rocket Day a hit at SJCA

Posted: Tuesday, November 6, 2012 6:00 a.m.
UPDATED: Tuesday, November 6, 2012 3:35 p.m.

St. John’s students are all smiles at Rocket Day.<br /> — St. John’s students are all smiles at Rocket Day.

The stands were full for St. John’s Christian Academy’s third annual “Rocket Day” on Oct. 18.
Students from Beth Barnes’ fourth grade and Mrs. P.A. Gramling’s fifth grade classes launched the rockets. “Rocket Day is one of the most fabulous days of the year for me,” Barnes said. “We do more than just launch rockets; it starts as an airplane inquiry project and morphs into a study of measurement, aerodynamics, and Newton's Laws. The hands-on inquiry approach is amazing for each student.
“You can see the excitement on their faces all week. When the countdown begins and the rocket launches, it doesn't get any better than that.”
Rockets zoomed all about, flying high before gracefully or violently falling back down to the earth from the cloudy blue sky.
This year SJCA combined Rocket Day with a service project. Lower school students and parents donated money for the Callen-Lacey Center for Children as they attended the extravaganza.
SJCA students enjoyed the event, learned a lot, and felt that they had helped other children in Berkeley County.
“The best part of rocket day was launching the rockets because it was really exciting,” fourth grader Marissa McCarthy said.