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UNO engineering student Bruce Johnson helps a Girl Scout prepare her rocket for launch
University of New Orleans engineering students Bruce Johnson and Patrick Danton were among several volunteers who taught approximately 100 Girl Scouts, ages 9-14, rocket building and rocket launching on June 12 during a “Girl Scouts Go NASA Workshop” held at Grace Memorial Baptist Church in Slidell.
“I love to give back to the community,” said Johnson, a mechanical engineering major and student employee of National Center for Advanced Manufacturing (NCAM), which operates as part of the College of Engineering and is located on the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. “Some of the younger girls thought it was ‘so cool’ that I work on the NASA site.”
The workshop was presented by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Ala., in collaboration with the Girl Scouts Louisiana East Council. The event is designed to provide inspiration and engagement in NASA-related content, and encourage the Girl Scouts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related pursuits. The day before the workshop, the volunteers, along with several Girl Scout leaders, were trained by an education specialist from MSFC in the hands-on activities presented to the girls during the workshop. The activities included rocket building and launching, building lunar rovers from common household items, and understanding mission patch design.
“Each of the Girl Scouts had the opportunity to launch her rocket with an official 3-2-1 countdown,” said Johnson. “The girls caught on very quickly. They were very bright.”
Other volunteers teaching the workshop included representatives from Stennis Space Center and Shell Oil Company.