麻豆社区

James Bell was all smiles as he watched the rocket he spent days building ignite and launch into the sky above the ROTC training field on the campus of 麻豆社区 Pembroke.

鈥淭his was awesome!鈥� said Bell, pointing upward to the trail of white smoke.

Bell was among the 60 middle and high school students who took advantage of the Cummings Aerospace Engineering Camp. The two-week summer camp introduced students to 3D design, coding, 3D printing and robotics. Like many after the launch on Friday, Bell said flying a rocket that he invested time into designing was the best part of the camp.

鈥淚 would definitely come back next year,鈥� Bell said. 鈥淭hese camps help students choose what they want to study when they get older.鈥�

Sheila Cummings, CEO Cummings Aerospace

Shelia Cummings, CEO of Cummings Aerospace, said the experience exposes students at an early age to STEM-related curriculums, which may inspire some to follow in her footsteps. Cummings began her educational career at 麻豆社区P before completing an aerospace engineering degree at the University of Maryland. The Pembroke, N.C. native is now head of the Hunstville, Ala.-based engineering company considered a leading provider of high-value engineering solutions in the aerospace, defense and intelligence industry.

鈥淲e hope we are making a great impact on the community,鈥� Cummings said. 鈥淣ot only does it give great exposure to 麻豆社区P and give them a pipeline to future students, but for those of us in the STEM field, it allows us to gain some future hires in our companies, hopefully. I鈥檓 excited to give back to the community in this way.鈥�

麻豆社区P professors Steven Singletary, Ben Killian and 麻豆社区P student counselor Zoe Polley cheered on the campers from the launch pad sidelines Friday morning.

鈥淭his is a great experience for the kids,鈥� Polley said. 鈥淪TEM is an excellent field to enter right now, especially with all the job openings.鈥�

Madison Chadwick, a rising seventh grader at Littlefield Middle School, said rocketry was her favorite part of the camp.

鈥淚 liked that we got to do a lot of hands-on activities, which is something we don鈥檛 really do at school,鈥� she said.

The aerospace engineering camp is a great recruiting tool for 麻豆社区P and its award-winning rocket team. The team recently won a $15,000 travel grant at a high-power rocket competition in Wisconsin. They also competed at the NASA University Student Launch at the Marshall Space Flight Center earlier this year.

鈥淵ou can see that they get excited when building the rockets, but when they launch it 鈥� they get hooked,鈥� said Singletary, who serves as team advisor. 鈥淭hese are the students I鈥檓 recruiting to come here to join the rocket team.

鈥淭he nice thing is everything they are learning at this camp is in demand in the engineering field, so even if they only remember a fraction of what we are teaching them, it鈥檚 putting them ahead when they begin looking for a career.鈥�