DEFINING YOUR NEEDS MAKES PLANNING A SNAP!

There are two ways to plan a family picnic; you can prepare everything yourself, plan the games and buy all the food. Or you can divide the responsibility by having your sister-in-law (the soccer coach) plan the games and having your brother (who just bought that huge SUV) pick up all the food and drop it off at your kitchen. True, you still have to cut and wash the veggies but you no longer have to plan the games (you spent your childhood at the arcade ) and you’ve saved hours by having the groceries picked up and delivered ( you couldn’t have fit all that food in your Yugo anyway).

Any activity you engage in can be made easier and more enjoyable if you have a wide base of assistance in the form of people, materials and information resources. Need a couple of extra hands at your next launch or a good idea on how to work with a larger-than-expected group? Support can be found anywhere from within your own classroom or club to the broad and vibrant rocketry community that spans the globe.

Defining your needs.

Creating a good support structure for your model rocketry project can be simple and straightforward. First - the type of support needed has to be defined (do you need a field trip destination or do you need an extra set of hands?) Second - a plan must be made to maximize the contribution made by volunteers (remember: nothing is worse than having a volunteer feel that they wasted their time). Third - your supporters (whether volunteers or suppliers of materials and resources) need to be able to share in your projects’ success. In the previous chapter we examined the wide range of opportunities that model rocketry can bring to the educator. By this time you have likely thought of a general focus for your model rocketry project. With this in mind it is time to examine what type of support you may need to achieve your objective.

Internal Support: Assistance provided to you by parents, other instructors or your organization in general can be characterized as internal support. For model rocketry projects this assistance is mainly logistical (e.g. an extra set of hands at construction time or access to facilities). Reviewing your project goals and scope will help you determine what internal support you may need. Does your project require special audio/visual equipment? Access to your schools’ computer lab? Do you need instructional materials that you have yet to find? Do you need someone to design your clubs launch flyer?

External Support: Unless your school or organization has a veteran model rocketeer on staff you will inevitably find yourself facing a question that has you “stumped”. Where do you turn for an answer? To the vast community of model rocketeers of course! External support can be as simple as finding the answer to a seemingly simple question (o.k. why is Kevlar the best material for shock cord attachments?) to as complex as finding an advisory to work with you on your first project (which is really not as complex as it appears). With a community as diverse as model rocketeers you will quickly come to realize that help is a call or click away.