AMORY, Mississippi USA — Each week it's back to the drawing board for a group of Monroe County high school students. They're trying to make an even better model rocket in hopes of qualifying in the Team America Rocketry Competition.

The model rocket must make it 750 feet in 45 seconds and land with two eggs safely inside.

"We've gotten really close, we've gotten close to 800 feet and we've only broke one egg one time," Catherine Blanton, a Hamilton High School senior said.

Since the physics class started working on the project in August they've made a lot of changes.

"Our first launch we went out behind the school and we just had a little rocket that was about this big and it was an inch in diameter and now our rockets are about three or four feet tall," Ashley Schwartz, a Hatley High School senior said.

The students use special programs to design and build their rockets.

"We've had to be creative and learn how to use small resources in a big way," Blanton said.

Building a new rocket each week can be pricey so the students have even asked for corporate sponsors.

Their teacher, Ester Potts said the students are very dedicated to building the perfect rocket.

"I just think it's exciting to see the students get so involved and like learning," Potts said.

The students said they'd rather build a rocket than read about it any day.

"You made it, it's a real rocket and it's really flying in the sky," Cao Yuan, Hatley High School senior said.

The students are on a tight deadline, next month they'll find out whether they'll be competing against other rocket scientists in the national competition.

Only 100 teams from across the country will be selected to compete on the national level if the Monroe County team does qualify they'll head to Washington, D.C. in May.

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