Colorado Springs students set to compete in American Rocketry Challenge Finals

(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Students at The Vanguard School in Colorado Springs are reaching new heights.

These bright minds will be representing the Southern Colorado community as they gear up to compete against other talented teams at the American Rocketry national finals, set to blast off Sat. (5/18) in The Plains, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C.

The stakes are high as two student teams from The Vanguard School compete for the title of national champion in the American Rocketry Challenge .

“It’s a very challenging competition, a lot of it is based on chance and how other people do,” Ethan Basinger, Freshman at The Vanguard School said.

This year’s competition has broken records with 922 teams and more than 5,000 students from 45 states taking part. This will be Basinger’s third competition, and he said he might just make a career out of it.

“I was thinking building rockets would be a very interesting future,” Basinger explained. “I’m not really sure right now though, but yeah, definitely rocketry is a big option.”

Each team was tasked with designing, building, and launching model rockets capable of safely carrying a large hen egg to an altitude of 820-feet. The rocket has to stay in flight for precisely 43 to 46 seconds and return to the ground safely.

“We have been lucky and we have not cracked a single egg so far,” Basinger said.

Guiding these aspiring rocket scientists is none other than The Vanguard School STEM Electives Teacher Steve Riegel.

“I love the fact that we get to give them opportunities, especially through the rocketry program that I never had,” Riegel explained. “When I was in high school, I would have loved something like this.”

Riegel can only offer advice to the students competing, but with his background, The Vanguard School has a leg up in the competition.

“I am retired Air Force, did 20 years in space operations,” Riegel said.

For this teacher, it’s all about showing his students, the sky is the limit.

“We’re taking two teams this year,” Riegel explained. “This is only the second time in 12 trips that we’ve been able to take multiple teams. I’m really excited, I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do.”

“He has given us so much knowledge and information on what rockets are,” Basinger said. “Before this, I didn’t know how to build rockets so Mr. Riegel kind of guided me through all of that and this is all pretty much because of his mentorship.”

The top 25 teams will earn invitations to NASA’s student launch workshop, further fueling their passion for space exploration and innovation.

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