Photo Gallery: Wilson Middle School’s future rocket scientists

Wilson Middle School Math & Engineering Program (MESA) students launched plastic bottle rockets at the Glendale school on Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. The rockets were made from empty two-liter plastic bottles filled with water and pumped with air. (Raul Roa/Staff Photographer)

Sept. 28, 2012 3:37 PM PT

At Wilson Middle School on Friday, a lesson in engineering took students outside where they launched hand-made bottle rockets into the sky. “I’ve always dreamed of building a rocket,” said 13-year-old Arthur Nanvelyan. Now in his first year of the school’s MESA program -- which cultivates interest in math, science and engineering -- Arthur had an opportunity he didn’t anticipate.

Photo Gallery: Wilson Middle School future rocket scientists

Wilson Middle School 6th grader Katherine Demirchyan pulls the release on a water rocket during the Math & Engineering Program (MESA) class at the Glendale school on Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. The rockets were made from empty two-liter plastic bottles filled with water and pumped with air. The students were assisted by a group of students named The Rocket Owls from Citrus College and Cal State L.A. (Raul Roa/Staff Photographer)

Citrus College Rocket Owl Ben Rhodes-Whicket helped Wilson Middle School students ready their water rocket for launching during the Math & Engineering Program (MESA) class at the Glendale school on Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. The rockets were made from empty two-liter plastic bottles filled with water and pumped with air. The students were assisted by a group of students named The Rocket Owls from Citrus College and Cal State L.A. (Raul Roa/Staff Photographer)

Wilson Middle School students launched water rocket during the Math & Engineering Program (MESA) class at the Glendale school on Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. The rockets were made from empty two-liter plastic bottles filled with water and pumped with air. (Raul Roa/Staff Photographer)

Wilson Middle School 8th grade student Jonathan Fong, 13, makes a parachute for his water rocket during the Math & Engineering Program (MESA) class at the Glendale school on Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. At right is Chris Hernandez. The rockets were made from empty two-liter plastic bottles filled with water and pumped with air. (Raul Roa/Staff Photographer)

Wilson Middle School students, from left, Gyana Sargsyan, Edita Tsaturyan and Liana Grbashyan, all 13, made a water rocket during the Math & Engineering Program (MESA) class at the Glendale school on Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. The rockets were made from empty two-liter plastic bottles filled with water and pumped with air. The students were assisted by a group of students named The Rocket Owls from Citrus College and Cal State L.A (Raul Roa/Staff Photographer)

Citrus College student Andrew Ferguson helped Wilson Middle School students launch water rockets during the Math & Engineering Program (MESA) class at the Glendale school on Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. The rockets were made from empty two-liter plastic bottles filled with water and pumped with air. (Raul Roa/Staff Photographer)

Wilson Middle School students launched water rockets during the Math & Engineering Program (MESA) class at the Glendale school on Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. The rockets were made from empty two-liter plastic bottles filled with water and pumped with air. The students were assisted by a group of students named The Rocket Owls from Citrus College and Cal State L.A. (Raul Roa/Staff Photographer)

Wilson Middle School 8th graders Jeeyeon Kang, 13, left, and Meri Yedigaryan, 14, right, inspect their water rocket after launching it during the Math & Engineering Program (MESA) class at the Glendale school on Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. The rockets were made from empty two-liter plastic bottles filled with water and pumped with air. The students were assisted by a group of students named The Rocket Owls from Citrus College and Cal State L.A. (Raul Roa/Staff Photographer)