By Olivia Just

STAMFORD — Like a group of NASA technicians-in-training, the children launched their
rockets from a safe distance.
Over the field at Stillmeadow Elementary School on Friday, the small fleet burst into the air
with surprising speed, trailing a wisp of smoke. Watching the handmade spacecraft fall
gracefully to Earth, the crowd burst into applause.
The launch is a hallmark activity for campers in kindergarten through fifth grade at
Champions Science Adventures camp, a seven-week educational program that builds on
students’ knowledge of science, from planetary motion to basic physics. Each week brings a
different science-based theme with various hands-on activities, but space and rocketry week
is by far the favorite, said Robby Pletz, area manager of Knowledge Learning Corporation
School Partnerships, the company responsible for the program.
“We teach them the basic science concepts, what they’ve been learning in school, and build
on that with hands-on activities,” he said. “The space and rocketry is really the flagship
program, the one we build our summer around.”
The rockets in question are fairly simple to construct, usually from a toy store or hobby
shop, Pletz said. As the rockets they built soared into the clear summer sky, the children
craned their necks to watch the craft make the descending arc onto the grass. The thrill,
however, was brief; the launch lasts a few precious seconds.
“I love seeing the kids’ reaction when they finish a toy or a project,” staff member Sarah
Mallozza said as the rocket launch came to a close. “They’re learning something, which is
wonderful.”
Kids to the moon

A camper holds one of the rockets made at the Champions Science Adventures camp. The space and rocketry week is the highlight for campers in the program, said Robby Pletz, area manager of Knowledge Learning Corporation School Partnerships.