A Welcome Message from   NAR President, Mark B. Bundick

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, volunteers, and members of the National Association of Rocketry, let me welcome you to the fun, excitement, and challenge of the world's largest sport rocketry organization!

As America’s elite educators, you have the technology future of our country in your classrooms today. Those of us who know how important it is for the country to retain its technical leadership salute your dedication and diligence. I hope the NAR can help you enrich the technology learning experience for your students, and make your job as an educator a bit easier.

Many of you already know sport rocketry can be an exciting, motivational, and high energy teaching tool. Rockets can help make real, the physics and math coursework from the classroom. Because rockets also provide a creative outlet, using them can spark discussions around design tradeoffs for a “real world” mission. Working as a group on rocketry projects teaches leadership, compromise, and teamwork. These are the kinds of skills needed by the next generation of technical specialists for our country.

Those of you new to the rocketry classroom experience often tell me you need help “launching” your first classroom rocketry experience. This CD-ROM is a compilation of resources to help you do that. You’re free to use as many of these as fits your particular grade level, time frames, and commitments.

We obviously learn something new in our hobby every day too! And we certainly didn’t create the perfect CD-ROM resource for teachers, at least not yet! We welcome suggestions for changes, improvements, and additions to this material. Simply write NAR HQ or contact us by email (Education@nar.org) with your suggestions and comments.

I invite you to explore the NAR’s two programs for financial support. Our Teacher Grants help recognize and support teachers actively using sport rocketry. The NAR also provides some modest scholarship support for students in post-secondary education. Details for both programs are available on this CD-ROM or at the NAR Website (www.nar.org).

My involvement in this hobby started with a teacher just like you. Since I left that 6th grade classroom, I've visited with thousands of rocket hobbyists, teachers, and officials, traveled literally from one end of the country to the other flying and talking about rockets, learned more about science and technology than I could have possibly imagined, and had more fun than you can shake a stick at. We hope your rocketry program is a huge educational success, and that you find our 45-year experience in sport rocketry helps you and your students achieve whatever goals they’re reaching for.

Welcome to the educational world of the NAR!  Warm regards,  Mark B. Bundick, President  National Association of Rocketry                                                              Back To Main Page