SHS teams qualify for world’s largest student rocketry competition

By Soncirey Mitchell
Reader Staff

In an unprecedented turn of events, two Sandpoint High School teams qualified for the 2025 national championship of the Aerospace Industries Association’s American Rocketry Challenge, which will take place on Saturday, May 17, in Virginia. With the help of SHS and local nonprofit Spacepoint, the students are hoping to raise $6,000 to cover travel expenses and compete to represent the United States at the International Rocket Challenge in Paris.

“Over 1,000 teams entered the challenge with just 100 — or 10% — qualifying. These teams are the first from Sandpoint to qualify for ARC nationals and the only teams in the entirety of Idaho to do so,” said Spacepoint founder Kyle Averill.

The organization partnered with SHS in 2023 to create the after-school program that launched these two winning teams, and Averill said there are plans to incorporate it into the Lake Pend Oreille School District’s standard budget in years to come.

According to a news release from AIA, the 2025 competition has seen “record-breaking” participation. Sandpoint’s teams will go up against students from 45 states and Washington, D.C. for $100,000 in prizes for their teams and their school.

“The American Rocketry Challenge launches not just rockets, but also the careers of the next generation of aerospace innovators, and today is just the beginning for our 100 national finalists,” AIA President and CEO Eric Fanning stated in the news release.

To qualify for nationals, teams had to design, build and launch model rockets carrying two raw eggs to an altitude of 790 feet. The rockets also had to stay airborne for anywhere from 41 to 44 seconds and return to the ground safely. If students Kieran Ryan, Travis Walker, Carter Thompson and Eli Krenelka of Team Pend Oreille Rocketry, and Clara Sherman, Meara Graybeal, Daphne Krenelka and Ruby Moremen of Team NOVA want to win, they’ll need to meet even more rigorous criteria in the finals.

The travel and prizes would be the cherry on top of an educational and professional networking opportunity that could propel the students’ future careers in STEM — a central goal of Spacepoint, which is focused on connecting the Sandpoint area to the space industry by bringing distinguished speakers, films and events to the community. It was also responsible for establishing the Area 7B observatory, which boasts the largest telescope in North Idaho.

“The rocketry program provides a hands-on application of engineering, math and science in a national and international competitive environment. These teams spent countless hours in software design, fabrication, building, testing and launching in the predictable North Idaho weather,” said Averill.

Averill gave special thanks to Dr. Becky Meyer, Jacki Croosingham, Kyle Olmstead, Viktor Sjöberg, Brenden Bobby, Jason Grace, Josh Barcklay, Jim Hickey and Dave Schuck, as well as sponsors Idagon, Sun Rental, Tork Electric, High Mark, North Idaho Plumbing and Mountain Metals.

“Congratulations to the teams for this amazing accomplishment. This is a tremendous tribute to their perseverance over the last two years,” said Averill.

To donate to the travel fund, visit spacepoint.org.