Colorado Springs’ Vanguard students on a mission: build a rocket, reach national finals

If there's one thing Vanguard has, it's "determination."

The Vanguard School (Colorado Springs) has been participating in The American Rocketry Challenge (TARC) since 2003. They've sent teams to the TARC national finals eleven times. Unfortunately, no teams from the school qualified this year. But it hasn't stopped them from being eager to prepare to qualify for the 2024 national finals.

Vanguard currently has two high school teams and one junior high team already researching, designing and testing model rockets for next year's competition, even utilizing a computer that fires extra motors that can adjust the module's parachute.

The goal is for students to build and fly a rocket that is able to carry an egg at a qualified altitude and within a qualifying time. It's a tall task, as it pushes students to perfect a working design that can have constant variables, including geography and weather.

Vanguard TARC students have even produced a video that shows their dedication to the craft, noting that they believe they are our country's future engineers who, possibly someday, may be able to take exploration to new heights.

According to the ARC website, the challenge is "the world’s largest rocket contest with nearly 5,000 students nationwide competing each year," while giving middle and high school students the "opportunity to design, build and launch model rockets and hands-on experience solving engineering problems."

The Vanguard School's TARC team did qualify for the national finals last year and was featured on School Buzz.

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