Presidio Rocketry team travels to White House Science Fair

Three students from Presidio Independent School District traveled to the nation’s capital to present their rocket exhibits to President Obama at the second White House Science Fair and were treated to a group hug from the commander in chief.

The event highlights 100 student winners from National Science, Technology, Engineering and Math competitions. Presidio was among the 30 groups able to present their exhibits Tuesday before the President.

The Rocketry student team from Presidio included, Janet Nieto, Ana Karen Nieto and Gwynelle Condino. The three students represented Presidio’s past, present and future finalists in the Team America Rocketry Challenge in the White House.

Shella Condino, sponsor and physics and scientific research design teacher at Presidio High School, said when she received the call last week that her team was selected to be highlighted in the White House she had to call back to make sure it was not a prank call.

“In the beginning, I didn’t believe it,” she said.

But the call was serious.

“It’s life changing,” Shella said. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

President Obama singled out the Presidio team during his speech at the event.

“For some of you, the journey you took to get here is just as inspiring as the work that you brought with you today.  There’s a rocketry team from Presidio, Texas -- where’s my team here?  Where are you?  Stand up, guys.  Stand up.  This is part of the fourth-poorest school district in the state of Texas.  And I was told that teachers cooked food to sell after church, supporters drove 200 miles to pick up donuts for bake sales, they even raffled off a goat, is that right?  Just so they could raise enough money for the rocketry team to compete.  And the majority of the kids at the school are ESL, English as a second language.  And the presentation they made could not make you prouder.  So way to go,” President Obama said in the speech.

“I was very happy when he did his speech,” Shella said.

Shella said she has taught at Presidio for six years, but has a combined total of more than 19 years of teaching from when she taught in El Paso and the Philippines, where she is originally from. She said she loves what she does, adding that she even recently applied to the astronaut program.

“I’m an aerospace enthusiast,” she said.

Still, Shella said it’s her students which she is the most enthusiastic about.

“It’s not about me it’s about the kids,” she said.

She said each year her teams compete in the Team American Rocketry Challenge, which is the world’s largest rocket contest with about 7,000 students who compete annually. And every year, Shella said her five teams with 31 total members qualify as one of the top 100 teams to advance to the finals.

She said every time her team made it to the finals held in Virginia, she made a point of taking the students to Washington, D.C. to see the sights.

“We always go to the White House, but we never go inside,” she said. “This time we were actually inside, it was crazy.”

The students agreed.

Gwynelle Condino, Shella’s seventh-grade daughter, said she has been learning and building rockets since she was in kindergarten. She is currently the team leader for one of the middle school rocketry teams.

“It’s a lot of fun because it’s difficult,” she said. “I like challenges.”

 She said presenting in front of the President was a lot of fun and after she asked if they could hug, which he agreed to. Gwynelle said she enjoys building rockets and has no plans of slowing down.

“I have a feeling it’s going to have a big impact in my life,” she said.

Janet, who represents past winners and is a freshmen studying to be a chemical engineer at Texas Tech University, said the experience was amazing, especially the close encounter the group had with the President.

“We actually hugged him,” she said, after the group presented to President Obama. “We did a group hug with him.”

Janet said she became involved with the Rocketry club the summer after her freshman year when her brother encouraged her to join with him. She said at the time she had only recently moved to Texas from Mexico, knowing only some English. She said the rocketry club helped her English progress and develop her current love for Aerospace.

“I want to be there and do better,” she said of how she felt after joining the rocketry club.

Janet said prior to joining the Rocketry club she had never traveled on a plane, which was another reason she was excited about joining the club. She said her first opportunity to travel with the team was to the finals in Virginia her sophomore year, but the most recent trip also made an impression.

“It was amazing,” she said. “I’m speechless. I don’t have words.”

Her little sister, junior at Presidio High, Ana Karen agreed.

Both Janet and Ana Karen were on the National Finalists Team America Rocketry Challenge in 2009, 2010 and 2011. All three girls have attended the NASA Student Launch Initiative Advanced Rocketry program.

“We were just a normal team that competed and were invited,” Ana Karen said of being invited to the White House.

Ana Karen said her sister and brother used to always work on rocket projects together and it became something she wanted to be a part of.

“I feel inspired by them,” she said. “They accomplished so much.”

Now it’s Ana Karen who is accomplishing a lot, and will lead her rocketry team to the competition in the spring, and hopefully be named a finalist again she said.

“I love this, what I’m doing,” Ana Karen said. “I would like to continue building rockets.”

Shella said she was happy opportunities like this one will continue to happen for students in Presidio. She said students living in Presidio are mostly from economically disadvantaged families. She said all of the students in her program go on to college.

“I want to be remembered for being a challenging teacher,” she said. “These kids develop great work ethic, I’m very proud of them.”

Dale Morris, Presidio High School principal, said students in the rocketry programs have been accomplished and travel more than they ever had before.

“They believe they can realize their dreams,” he said. “That hasn’t been the case in the past.”

@OAschools