- Chattanooga Prep program will provide students with hands-on experience building rockets
Chattanooga, Tennessee-based FreightWaves will sponsor a new rocketry program launching at Chattanooga Preparatory School this fall, the trucking news, media and data analytics company announced Friday. The program will provide students at the college preparatory school with hands-on experience building rockets and will culminate in a rocket launch competition with students from other schools.
“Our overall goal is for our scholars to learn the STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] skills embedded within the program,” said Brad Scott, Chattanooga Prep’s head of school.
Chattanooga Prep is a STEM-based education program serving sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade boys. The school enrolls 210 students, the majority of whom are low-income or disadvantaged minorities.
“When we think about advanced careers in our country, we think about science, technology and math careers,” Scott said. Unfortunately, there are a lot of inequities in these careers for students of color, he added, and “we believe it is important when we’re addressing equity issues to offer a STEM curriculum they will need not just for college but their future careers.”
The rocketry program will meet twice weekly after school and will also be interwoven into the regular science curriculum. Former employees from SpaceX, the space exploration company founded by Elon Musk, are among the experts who will assist with the program. Students will also have access to the Challenger Stem Learning Center located on the Chattanooga campus of the University of Tennessee.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the program may launch virtually before transitioning to an in-person learning environment.
“FreightWaves is thrilled to support the Chattanooga Prep rocketry program,” said Craig Fuller, founder and CEO of FreightWaves. “The program gives students an opportunity to apply what they are learning in school to an exciting, hands-on project and will encourage them to pursue leading-edge careers in science, technology and engineering.”
Chattanooga Prep is “very grateful for FreightWaves’ support for the school and rocketry program,” Scott said. “We believe our boys are future SpaceX employees, and Freightwaves is going to help us meet that goal.”