Rocketing Ahead

When Richards R-V student Lena Finke was building her 8th grade schedule a little over a year ago, her school counselor reached out with an additional learning opportunity. “They asked me and a few other kids if we wanted to go ahead and take Algebra I online as an eighth grader,” Lena says. “I decided to do it, because I wanted to get ahead so I can take college classes in high school.”

Lena added Launch’s Algebra I course on top of her full-time seated schedule and a plethora of other activities—she dances and plays softball, basketball and volleyball throughout the year, plus runs for her school’s track and cross country teams. Last but certainly not least, she also competes on the Richards R-V School Rocketry team.

“I did most of my Algebra I work on the weekends, because I was usually pretty busy throughout the week,” Lena says. Especially at the end of her eighth grade year, as she and her Rocketry teammates prepared for the American Rocketry Challenge in Washington D.C. “This is the second year we’ve qualified for Nationals,” Lena says. “It was so exciting! We ended up finishing 16th out of 100 teams—the competition was strong this round!”

As Lena enters her freshman year at West Plains High School, she plans to continue with Rocketry, sports, and even a few more Launch classes. “I liked Launch because it gave me some breathing room with my schedule,” Lena says. “It really helped that I could work on my assignments on my own time.”