13
Jun
2012
Last week, a dozen area middle schoolers participated in the first annual JET Summer Camp at Jordan Catholic School. JET (Jordan Engineering Team) is an extra-curricular program led by veteran coaches Victor Cincola and Carlo Milani, in cooperation with FIRST LEGO League (FLL.) FIRST introduces younger students to real-world engineering challenges by building LEGO-based robots to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface and then participate in team competitions. FLL teams, guided by their imaginations and adult coaches, discover exciting career possibilities and, through the process, learn to make positive contributions to society. Coach Cincola began the program in 2009 with one team of ten students. This year, the program expanded to two teams and in the fall will grow to three.
During the JET Summer Camp, kids spent the first two days building rockets and using math to calculate altitude, based on engine size and rocket weight. On launch day, each member was able to launch their rocket twice with two different engine sizes. They also built devices to measure what peak altitude the rocket reached and compared that to the value calculated in the classroom. "I was surprised at how engaged and excited the kids were during the 3-day camp. They were very involved and really enjoyed the hands-
on building of their own rocket with the anticipation of the launch on the last day," explained Coach Cincola.
One of the original team members is Mr. Cincola's daughter, Sabrina, who moves on to Alleman High School in the fall. "I'm really going to miss JET." Sabrina says. "I'll miss the competitions the most- us being together as a team. Our team started out as ten people
but by the end of the first season, we were all a family."
For more information about JET and Jordan Catholic School, please call 309-793-7350.
During the JET Summer Camp, kids spent the first two days building rockets and using math to calculate altitude, based on engine size and rocket weight. On launch day, each member was able to launch their rocket twice with two different engine sizes. They also built devices to measure what peak altitude the rocket reached and compared that to the value calculated in the classroom. "I was surprised at how engaged and excited the kids were during the 3-day camp. They were very involved and really enjoyed the hands-
on building of their own rocket with the anticipation of the launch on the last day," explained Coach Cincola.
One of the original team members is Mr. Cincola's daughter, Sabrina, who moves on to Alleman High School in the fall. "I'm really going to miss JET." Sabrina says. "I'll miss the competitions the most- us being together as a team. Our team started out as ten people
but by the end of the first season, we were all a family."
For more information about JET and Jordan Catholic School, please call 309-793-7350.
