For the past two years, Dave Glenn has spent almost every Friday coordinating a rocket launch. Not NASA-level rockets — but real, three-foot-long rockets with real parachutes powered by real fuel.
It's part of a STEM education program called STARBASE. For decades, this military-sponsored program has been teaching fifth graders across the United States about science and technology. Wilmington's chapter of STARBASE has been operating for 20 years.
Each week, STARBASE works with a new group of fifth graders. Glenn is the director for the local program.
"We get about 1,400 kids over the course of the school year, so we launch about 1,400 rockets," he tells WHQR. "And it doesn't get old! You would think it's like a tedious thing and it would get old, but it doesn't get old."
Today, we're at Legion Stadium — the sun is out, the wind is calm and the energy is running high. Schoolkids dart between parents and STARBASE staff, chattering away and comparing their hand-decorated rockets. How high will these rockets go?
"Um, I'd be fibbing if I gave you my estimate," Glenn says. He tells WHQR they sometimes get up over the light poles, which are approximately 80 feet tall.
Eventually, the students fall into two lines — STARBASE likes to set off the rockets two at a time. The process is simple: squeeze the trigger, watch your rocket lift off, then run across the field and try to catch your rocket before it hits the ground.
It's trickier than you might think — the wind sometimes catches in the parachutes and carries them into a tree or into a nearby pond. But a couple kids do end up catching them, making their classmates, parents, and instructors cheer.
As exciting as it is, today's launch is bittersweet. That's because, recently, Glenn was officially informed that STARBASE would shut down in a month.
"I don't want to say blindsided, but it was unexpected that we will be at this point," he said.
The program is run by the state, but its expenses are reimbursed by the Department of Defense. DoD is one of the many federal agencies undergoing austerity cuts from the Trump administration. Without funding, Wilmington's six staff members will lose their jobs — and STARBASE's students will miss out on a rite of passage.
Glenn has been in touch with state officials to see if they can get funding for Wilmington's chapter and for their sister unit in Charlotte. But right now, he says there are more questions than answers.
"We're still hoping for a miracle, that kind of thing," he says. "But it just depends on how the funding comes through, or what options are out there to resolve the lack of federal funding to keep us going."
Glenn thinks that STARBASE has made a huge difference with the next generation of scientists. He's worried about what would happen to them if it shuts down.
"We're giving them experiences and connecting them with pathways that they might not be familiar with. And so when it comes to, 'how do you evaluate a program like this,' there are a lot of intangibles you can't see, but it makes an impact."
