\u201cIt was the first time I watched a rocket launch into space,\u201d said Umaiza, a Grade 6 student at Morning Star Middle School in Brampton, Ontario.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I thought, like, \u2018Wow! This is, like, outside of this world.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
She started to think maybe she could do something like that, she said.<\/p>\n
Umaiza\u2019s chance to get involved in rocket science could be a lot closer than she thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At nearby Turner Fenton Secondary School in Brampton, a group of teens have been building their own rockets for the last three years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On April 8, members of the Turner Fenton Rocketry Association visited Umaiza\u2019s school to share their love of building rockets \u2014 and let the middle-schoolers know they can do it, too, when they get to high school.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all still high school students, we\u2019re just like them,\u201d said group member Elissa Chacko, who is in Grade 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re showing them that it is possible and encouraging them that they can do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Five](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2_6.png\")
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Members of the Turner Fenton Rocketry Association show their rocket, Spectre, to students at Morning Star Middle School in Brampton, Ontario, on April 8. Left to right: Elissa Chacko, Dhyan Soni, Ismail Ait Simmou, Manvir Dhesi and Ishaan Maji. (Image submitted by Peel District School Board)<\/p>\n
From water rockets to 3,000 metres up<\/p>\n
Dhyan Soni had the idea to start the rocketry club with some friends three years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every day during lunch, they work out of their school\u2019s auto shop. They started off making water rockets out of two-litre pop bottles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t have the tools, we didn\u2019t have the materials or the knowledge,\u201d said Dhyan, who is now in Grade 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just a group of friends going at it and spending time and lunches making rockets.\u201d<\/p>\n
But then they connected with rocketry mentors who shared their knowledge, and they found sponsors to fund their materials and activities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They started building more complicated rockets and learning from their mistakes to make the next ones better, Dhyan said. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Last year, the team was the only high school to compete in a national competition for post-secondary students where you launch your rockets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their rocket, named Spectre, reached a height of 3,092 metres.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really, really satisfying seeing these rockets fly after months of, like, tireless work,\u201d Dhyan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"GIF](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/RocketClub.gif\")
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The Spectre blasts off at the Launch Canada Challenge in Timmins, Ontario, in August 2025. (Launch Canada\/YouTube)<\/p>\n
The group has learned that to build the best rockets, they need people with different skills, such as research, design, construction and data analysis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is similar to Artemis II. If you watched the launch, you probably saw not just the four astronauts but also teams of people sitting behind monitors making sure everything went according to plan.<\/p>\n
Elissa says one of her favourite parts about rocketry is seeing all these different elements come together over many months.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then when you see the rocket launch, you realize \u201call the effort was not for nothing. There was something beautiful that came out of it,\u201d Elissa said.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/3_8.png\")
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The rocket carrying the Artemis II crew on their mission to the moon blasts off in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1. The rocket club students and the middle-schoolers they spoke to said the Artemis II mission has been inspiring to them. (Image credit: NASA)<\/p>\n
Inspired by Artemis II\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the rocket carrying the Artemis II astronauts launched into the sky last week, Elissa said, her experience with the rocketry club helped her to see herself in that position.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really inspired me even more and made me realize . . . this is possible and the sky is the limit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Students](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4_3.png\")
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