MOOSEHEART, IL - For centuries, mankind has been building rockets and launching them to see how far or how high they fly.

This weekend, a group of Mooseheart middle schoolers get to experience the same rush of excitement as their rocket leaves the launch pad at Spaceport Sheboygan. Ten Mooseheart students and Executive Director Scott Hart travel to Sheboygan, WI on Friday (May 9) to participate in the Rockets For Schools program in Sheboygan. The trip has been made possible by the efforts of Sheboygan Moose Lodge No. 438.

”They’re the ones that brought it to our attention,” Hart said. “They’re the ones that did the fund-raising so we would be able to go up there and be registered. They brought the director of the program down to Mooseheart in April to speak with the kids. They deserve our thanks for their efforts.”

The two-day series of activities includes a chance to meet retired astronaut Winston E. Scott, who flew on two space-shuttle missions. On Saturday, the teams will launch their rockets. Mooseheart’s entry, dubbed “Ramblin’ Rocket” by the team, could fly as high as 2,500 feet.

Rockets For Schools has been in existence since 2001. Each year, 300 students from Illinois, Iowa, Michigan as well as Wisconsin gather in Sheboygan to launch their rockets. The program is open to students from sixth to 12th grade. Mooseheart’s team is comprised of middle school students.

“I think I’m going to have a lot of fun up there because I’ve never done anything like this before,” Mooseheart seventh grader Chon Montano said.

Montano said he had learned a number of things in the course of the month he and the 10 team members worked on the project.

“Before there were rockets, people actually threw bamboo with gunpowder in it and fire on it so it would blow up,” Montano said. “Then they started making them like rockets. The Chinese were in a war and they were the first to use rockets.”

Hart said he has gotten to work closely during the month-long preparation for this weekend’s trip.

“It’s good to get back and work directly with the kids,” Hart said. “That’s where my heart was when I came to Mooseheart and it’s what I really enjoy. It’s been neat to see them get excited about this.”

“It’s exciting,” Mooseheart sixth grader Nezra McCarty said. “I’m nervous to see how it does, but I’m also excited.”

McCarty said teamwork was an important aspect not only in the construction of the rocket but also in the manner in which the group approached the project.

“We had to do reports and we had to build a big poster board,” McCarty said. “We had to use different people to get that done.”

Teamwork is an integral function in many learning experiences at Mooseheart. Hart said it was good to have a project in which team-building exercises were integral.

“A lot of our teamwork at Mooseheart is in the home, where it’s all boys or all girls,” Hart said. “Much of our other teamwork comes from our athletic teams, where it’s all boys or all girls. This added an interesting dynamic because we had seventh- and eighth-graders, and boys and girls. They had to work through everything together, from what color their rocket was going to be to who would put on the fins to who was going to write the reports and give the presentations.”

Through the course of the project, the team learned a range of rocket-related terms.

“I learned what apogee is,” McCarty said. “It’s the point where the rocket’s at its highest and it’s about to fall back down.”

Mooseheart eighth-grader Bridge Towalid said her knowledge of rockets increased unbelievably through the project.

“I learned how rockets were used in ancient times,” Towalid said. “This weekend is going to be fun and exciting and different from what we normally do. But we’re going to have fun.”

All the team members shared one aspiration regarding their rocket, and it’s the same hope rocket builders have had since those ancient times.

“I want to see it go as high as it can go,” Towalid said.

Mooseheart Child City & School is a 1,000-acre community and school for children and teens in need of a secure home, located just south of Batavia, IL, between Illinois Route 31 and Randall Road.

Founded in 1913, Mooseheart is supported completely through private donations - the great majority of which come from the 1.1 million men and women of the Moose fraternal organization, in more than 1,900 Lodges and 1,600 Chapters located throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Bermuda. Moose International headquarters is located on the Mooseheart campus.

Since its founding, Mooseheart has operated a complete, accredited kindergarten-through-high-school academic program, plus art, music, vocational training and interscholastic sports. It is an extremely nurturing and student-tailored program, with an average student-teacher ratio of 12-1.

Mooseheart students who complete their studies with a 3.0 GPA or better (4.0=A) are eligible for up to five years of annually renewable scholarship funding, covering tuition, room and board in an amount comparable to that required for an in-state student at an Illinois public university.

Mooseheart is currently home to nearly 250 students, ranging in age from preschoolers to high school seniors. Applications for admission to Mooseheart are considered from any family whose children are, for whatever reason, lacking a stable home environment. Mooseheart boasts its own U.S. Post Office and a fully functioning branch of Fifth Third Bank.

In addition to Mooseheart, Moose International also supports Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community near Jacksonville, FL founded in 1922; and conducts more than $90 million worth of community service programs annually.

Founded in 1888, the Moose organization has long offered its members an opportunity to do good for others while celebrating life, with family, social, and sporting activities. For more information on the Moose organization, visit the websites at www.Mooseintl.org and www.Mooseheart.org or call 630-966-2229. .