Last Friday, the Russellville city council and Russellville citizens gathered together at city hall in honor of a team that was an Atlantic Ocean away and several hours ahead.
Earlier that day, the Russellville City Schools Engineering Rocket Team won the International Rocketry Challenge at the 2015 Paris Air Show in France. The team placed first in both the flight competition and the presentation of their rocket design. Team members are Katie Burns, Niles Butts, Andrew Heath, Cristian Ruiz, Cady Studdard, Chelsea Suddith and Evan Swinney. They are coached by Mark Keeton and Joseph Cole.
Although the team was not able to be at the special-called meeting, parents for the team members stood in their place and accepted a proclamation by the city to declare June 19, 2015 RCS Engineering Rocket Team Day.
“Isn’t it great to be a Golden Tiger?” said mayor David Grissom as the crowd exploded into applause at the city hall. “Congrats to each team member, as well as to the parents, grandparents, coaches, siblings, teachers, school system and everyone who made this possible. It is a great day for the city, for Franklin County and for the state.”
The team won the National Team American Rocketry Challenge this spring, which sent them to Paris to face international teams from the United Kingdom and France.
RCS board member Judy Pounders also congratulated the team on behalf of the school board and RCS superintendent Dr. Heath Grimes.
“I take great pride in being a member of the Russellville City Schools,” said Pounders. “I know all of us here who have been associated with the school share in the pride that you, the parents, are feeling because of what your children were able to do--not only locally but also statewide, nationally and now internationally.”
Although Russellville is a sports town, city council member David Palmer shared that the team’s success shines a spotlight on another aspect of talented students.
“I am an engineer, and this means a lot to me,” said Palmer. “I was an athlete in high school, but it's great to see Russellville recognized for something other than athletics.”
The team members were very excited to hear about the congratulations and special honors bestowed upon them while they were in France.
“If it was not for the city of Russellville, we would not have made it,” said Cady Studdard, who really enjoyed learning about new cultures and the French language during the team's time in Paris. “It's great to know that they named a day in honor of us. I can look back on that day and say that I was a part of that team.”
The International Rocketry Challenge was not very different from the national competition, except they had only one launch and had to do a presentation in front of a panel of judges. Plus, international measurements posed a problem for the team.
“Before Paris, they had to change the measurements of the rail to three meters, which is longer than the original rail,” said Keeton. “It caused some problems with the current design, and they had to rebuild it. We put in 30 launches before Paris. They checked the wind speeds and humidity that were similar to Paris.”
However, it was not the win that impressed Keeton most but rather how his team handled adversity during the competition.
“The biggest moment for me was before the launch when they had to go through a safety inspection,” said Keeton. “They discovered that the buttons did not fit the launch rail. The judges handed them adaptors with 20 minutes before the launch. They were very nervous but did not show it. They worked quickly and effectively. At that moment they were winners in my book.”
After the win, the students spent the whole day Saturday exploring the city. They visited the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and Notre Dame and took a boat ride at night around the city. Even after a nine-hour flight back home, for many of them the impact of the competition has not set in.
“It was pretty cool to be a part of the competition,“ said Butts. “It was a big deal. It hit home how big of a deal it really was to be there.”
