Students at Catawba Elementary School were blown away Tuesday by the start of a four-day program designed to spark interest in math and science.
Students and staff were greeted by a Blackhawk helicopter landing at the school at about 8:45 a.m. as part of the Starbase program. The chopper circled a field twice as students cheered and waved. As it landed, it blew the hair back on the boys and whipped around the longer hair on the girls.
"I found out about the program from a Sweetwater Elementary teacher," said Carrie Reiner, a fifth-grade teacher at Catawba Elementary. "When I researched it and saw how much it tied in to the curriculum and everyday life, I applied last year to bring the program here, and found out this fall that they were coming. The students have been really excited."
Starbase is a federally funded program that's sponsored by the Department of Defense. Students spend four days working on projects in science, technology, math and engineering, hoping to get students interested in careers in those fields, Reiner said.
The fifth-graders got to tour the Blackhawk after it landed, and spoke to its pilot and crew, which flew in from Salisbury.
"It was exciting to see it up close," said Lanie Isenhour, 10. "It's really big."
Riley Howard, 11, said the helicopter was really loud as it landed.
"I liked everything about it," he said.
He said he was interested in learning that a Blackhawk uses 2.5 gallons of fuel a minute, and that a new helicopter cost $10 million.
Trey Hensley said he liked seeing the Blackhawk land.
"I liked getting to see how big the rotors were," he said.
After touring the helicopter, the students went inside, where they each received their own set of dog tags, with their name, birth date and "STARBASE" stamped on them.
Barbara Miller, the director of Starbase, told all the students to wear them inside their shirt so they don't "sound like a tin can" — and because it's what real military officials do, particularly in combat situations.
"This week, you're going to have so much fun, you won't even realize you're learning," Miller told the fifth-grade class. "We hope to get you more excited about math and science. There are lots of jobs in those fields. We want you to work together in groups, because sometimes, even the people you don't like have some great and wonderful ideas."
Students also were encouraged to stay away from drugs. They took a pledge to maintain good character and do their best and were then broken up into groups.
Hensley, 10, said he's most excited to be working on the science projects this week because he's interested in going into a science-related field.
The week will culminate with the students building and launching their own rockets. That's what Isenhour said she's looking forward to.
"I think that will be really awesome," she said.
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