It Doesn’t Take a Rocket Scientist to Have a Blast : Rene Beshear’s third-graders at Helen Estock School in Tustin are taking off on a project that uses math and science skills.

Just call them rocket scientists. They may be only 8 years old and they may not understand Newton’s Law, but the kids in Rene Beshear’s third-grade class are building their own rockets.

Using the cardboard tubes from holiday wrapping paper and fins cut out of boxes, Beshear’s pupils will spend the next few weeks learning about science and math as they construct their own working models. When the rockets are completed, the kids will launch them from the schoolyard, under the watchful eye of Beshear, a model rocket hobbyist and a teacher at Helen Estock School in Tustin.

This is the 15th year that Beshear has included the rocket project in his teaching activities. During most of that time, the project was part of the science portion of Beshear’s fifth- and sixth-grade classes. Now that he is teaching third grade, rocket-building is a volunteer activity that his pupils do during lunch hours and after class.

“It’s one of the things the children really look forward to,” says Beshear, who has been teaching elementary school for 30 years. “Some want to be in my class because they want to do this. They may think this is the only thing we do, but some kids are disappointed when they don’t get into my class.”

All 30 of Beshear’s third-graders are participating in the project, assisted by 15 pupils from the fifth grade who are serving as mentors to the fledgling scientists. The volunteer fifth-graders are building rockets too and will launch theirs during the school’s “Rocket Days,” tentatively scheduled for sometime in March.

“We invite everyone we can to come and see the launching,” Beshear says. “Parents, kids from other schools. Everyone seems to really enjoy watching them.”

Beshear says that during the 15 years that his pupils have been launching rockets in the Tustin Unified School District, no one has ever been hurt and no structures have been damaged. He does recall one rocket, however, that lost a fin, veered off course and flew past a balcony where a woman was standing. “She called the police on us,” Beshear says, “because she thought something illegal had happened.”

But Beshear is quick to point out that his rocket program complies with state regulations. The use of model rockets is restricted, and before any rocket is launched, Beshear must obtain a permit from the Tustin Fire Department.

“And each day we fire, I have to call them up and tell them what time we are firing and when we expect to finish,” he says.

Kathleen Cha, public information officer for the Orange County Fire Department, says that teachers who do model rocket projects “have done their homework and know what they are doing. It is a safe thing if it is done right,” she says.

Still, Cha believes that it is important to emphasize that the rockets are not toys. “Because of the explosive quality, there are restrictions and many people are unaware of these restrictions,” she says. For example, in Orange County the only approved launching site is Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley. A permit is required to launch rockets from any other site.

Beshear says the program he runs follows all recommended safety procedures.

“We even have a double safety firing apparatus,” he says. “An adult and a kid have to press a button at the same time before the rocket will fire. The kid cannot fire his rocket unless the other button is pressed.”

Assisting Beshear with the launchings are adult volunteers like Greg Kelly, a rocket enthusiast who runs a Tustin hobby shop. “I think the program is great,” Kelly says. “It’s extremely innovative. Other schools that do this usually just buy the kits, and that’s fine, too, but I think Rene’s is best because of using the wrapping tubes and having the kids make their own.”

Because the rockets are constructed of leftover materials, costs are minimal, Beshear points out. “The rocket engines cost about $1 and most kids can afford to pay a buck,” he says. But if pupils can’t afford to pay, they can still participate in the program, as Ian Baldridge, a fifth-grade rocket builder, is quick to point out to one of the third-graders. “Do you have the $1?” Ian asks the other boy. “If you don’t, Mr. B. will pay.”

Beshear also provides the Styrofoam for the nose cone and the fireproof crepe paper wadding. “It’s really inexpensive and so simple,” Beshear says. “I’d like to see other teachers do it. If you glue your fins on and glue your engine in correctly, they are easily successful. And the children learn a lot. We use math because we measure and compare and graph the height of the rocket. Math isn’t just two plus two equals four. They are now learning multiplication and one of the things we do is make them apply it. Also we make word problems out of their math.”

When Beshear included the project as a part of his science instruction, children were graded on their rockets and he says that no one ever got an F. “We had some spectacular Ds that twisted around and nearly hit the teacher,” he jokes, “but no Fs.”

Chris Gregg, former principal at Estock School, says the project is a great learning experience for the children. “It is unique,” says Gregg, who this year became principal at Tustin Memorial School.

“It’s a hands-on project in which math and science are involved. The children when they started didn’t believe it was going to happen. The different steps that are involved and being able to go through the whole process is an important part in the learning aspect of it. You are integrating a lot of different skills, so it is really the ideal type of learning for youngsters. And I have never seen a youngster who has not been excited.”

Paul Schaefer, the new principal at Estock, says he is happy to see Beshear’s program continue. “This is something that he is very comfortable with and has done for years and the children are definitely charged up about it,” Schaefer says.

Despite the extra work involved in running the program, Beshear says that seeing the children’s reaction makes it all worthwhile. “One of the first times we did it, a little girl walked in and I said, ‘How did you feel when you fired your rocket?’ She said, ‘My friends were all jealous and that made me feel good.’ ”

Beshear says the girl will remember her rocket launching for a very long time. “As a kid there are a few things you remember from elementary school,” he says. “The play you were in, if you ran for an election and won, song fests, outdoor ed. I’ve had high school kids drop by who were in my class, and they seem to remember this too.”