MANITOWOC, Wisconsin USA — Donning a "Science never sucks!" T-shirt, Russ Olp directed a group of home-schoolers Sunday on their endeavor to construct a 6-foot rocket which will launch 2,500 feet into the sky May 5 and come to rest in Lake Michigan shortly after.

"I'm not afraid to do stuff I've never done before," said Olp, an engineer from Two Rivers who has worked on projects for NASA and the U.S. Air Force.

And like a good engineer, fearlessness and curiosity are character traits essential to any successful rocket builder.

Olp is the adviser to a group of six home-schoolers who have taken on the mission to build a Class-1 rocket for the Rockets for Schools Competition held Friday, May 4, and Saturday, May 5, in Sheboygan. Other Manitowoc County participants include a group of 10 from Wilson Junior High School led by Eric Cayemberg, a mechanical designer with Burger Boat Co., and science teacher Jen Steinhaus, as well as a group of 10 from St. Frances Cabrini Middle School led by sixth-grade teacher Carol Netzler.

After attending a meeting led by Olp at the Two Rivers Public Library, 15-year-old Kellnersville resident Theodore Dewane and Kyle Dimmick, 15, of Two Rivers, allowed their fascination with model rockets to expand from hobby to competition. The two boys joined Olp's Rockets for Schools group along with four other home-schoolers (two are Olp's sons) and have spent the past several months erecting a missile that will finally be tested next weekend.

"It's pretty fun to watch a rocket fly," Jon Lehman, 14, said. The Whitelaw resident aspires to be a U.S. Air Force pilot some day.

The 12-inch model rockets kids build for fun are easily trumped by the 6-foot missiles constructed for the Rockets for Schools Competition. Dewane said his group's rocket, inspired by "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," is expected to launch 2,500 feet in the air.

While that height is projected, the groups won't know if their rockets are operational until the day of the launch. The kids have been unable to test their work and can only hope for the best.

"It's their one and only shot," Cayemberg said. "Hopefully they've done a good job."

Wilson eighth-grader Jacob Kakuk has a lot of faith in his creation and even intends to get a license in rocketry someday. Andrew Hoover, a seventh-grader, has also set his sights high for an eventual career in aeronautical engineering with NASA.

The Wilson group's rocket was painted orange and black and inspired by the school's mascot — the warhawk. Participating students have bonded every Tuesday after school for several months to construct the rocket, create a payload and complete the presentation they will give May 4.

"It's really fun making and painting the rocket," seventh-grader Miles Sonnenberg said. "You get to see all your progress."

Each group also had to create a payload for the ship — a term that refers to cargo or, in this case, the scientific experiment required for each rocket.

The EWHS rocket will measure speed with the use of two weights, elastic, a mirror and a small video camera. The boys — ranging from 10 to 15 years old — came up with the experiment using Newton's Second Law of Motion, the spring constant, and a bit of algebra.

The Wilson group's payload will determine how high and how fast the rocket traveled. The kids will get an altimeter reading after retrieving the rocket and compare the final result to productions they made on an altitude prediction Web site.

Rockets for Schools is an educational program for students in grades 6-12 and was designed by the Great Lakes Spaceport Education Foundation Inc. The program is open to students in a five-state area in the Midwest. Activities take place at Space Port Sheboygan. Students compile points in the competition based on rocket construction, a rocketry worksheet, payload design and a presentation.

"The whole point is to keep kids interested in science — knowing it's not all just paper and pencil." Olp said. "Once we see their faces at the launch site and they know they had a part in putting it up there, it will be worth it."

For further details on Rockets for Schools, visit http://www.rockets4schools.com. For information on other local rocketry opportunities, visit http://www.larsrocketry.com.