A few years ago, the space now occupied by Hemlock’s Lockwood STEM Center was a fenced-in storage yard for the district’s industrial arts program. On Saturday, September 12, it became a launch site.
Students and families gathered at the Center for Rocket Day, a hands-on celebration of science and engineering presented in partnership with SaginawSTEM. The day began in Buena Vista, where the Lockwood STEM Center team joined SaginawSTEM’s morning event. That afternoon, the SaginawSTEM team brought its equipment and expertise to Hemlock, extending the experience to more families across the Great Lakes Bay Region.
In 2024, Superintendent Dr. Don Killingbeck described the transformation underway at the site.
“Five years ago, this space was literally a fenced-in yard for our industrial arts program. Today, we are building robots. In ten years, we will be launching rockets.”
Hemlock did not wait ten years.
Throughout the afternoon, K–12 students built, tested and launched film canister rockets, balloon-on-a-straw rockets, stomp rockets, compressed-air rockets and Estes solid-fuel rockets. Each launch offered a chance to explore force, motion, propulsion and engineering design. Some rockets flew farther than expected. Others sent their builders back to make a change and try again. That was part of the learning.
“This is exactly why the Lockwood STEM Center exists,” said Killingbeck. “We want young people to see that they can build something, test an idea and learn from what happens next. We are inspiring the next generation of explorers, inventors, world shakers and history makers. Saturday, they also happened to be rocket builders.”
The event’s theme, Explore. Build. Launch. Learn., put students at the center of the experience. They did more than watch a demonstration. They made decisions about their designs, observed the results and considered what they would change.
“Rocket Day showed what is possible when STEM organizations share their resources and expertise,” said Laura Trombley, Director of the Lockwood STEM Center. “We are grateful to SaginawSTEM for partnering with us. Our goal is to spark curiosity and help students see themselves as people who can do this work.”
The partnership allowed both organizations to reach students and families in two communities in one day. It also reflected the Center’s broader mission to connect classroom learning with hands-on exploration, local expertise and future opportunities in STEM fields.
The Lockwood STEM Center continues to serve students through STEM camps, robotics and its High Tech Talent Initiative, which gives high school students opportunities to help train educators in emerging technology. Rocket Day offered another glimpse of what can happen when a community makes room for students’ ideas to take flight.
About the Lockwood STEM Center
Located in Hemlock, Michigan, the Lockwood STEM Center brings students, educators, industry and community partners together for hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Its programs encourage students to solve problems, develop new skills and explore possibilities for their futures.