Date: Fri 09-May-1997

By DOROTHY EVANS

Published: Aug 11, 1999 12:00 am

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

schools-Hawley-rockets

Full Text:

`R' Is For Rocket:

Fifth Graders Blast Off!

Becky Corrigan shows off "Nightmare," just before its maiden flight.

-Bee Photos, Evans

Stepping up to the launch pad: Jessica Nicolosi is helped by Hawley

math/science specialist Debbie Cowden (left) and fifth grade teacher Joan

Cunningham (right).

Blast Off! A student-made rocket zooms skyward across Taylor Field.

Wow! All eyes follow the rocket's trajectory before crash-down, 500 feet away.

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

For an hour after lunch Wednesday, April 30, Hawley School's Taylor Field

turned into the Kennedy Space Center.

The scenario included all the familiar Launch Day ingredients: agonizing

anticipation on the part of mission control (student rocketeers); precision

firing (when students pressed the "GO" button after their teachers turned a

safety key); a puff of smoke and the smell of gunpowder as the rockets zoomed

skyward; cheers from the crowd as they followed each rocket's trajectory to a

crash point that was sometimes as far away as 500 feet.

"Three.. Two... One... Blast Off!" was heard over and over again as fifth

grade science students in Gary Wilkinson's and Joan Cunningham's classes got a

chance to see whether their homemade rockets would fly.

The rocket project was undertaken as part of a physics unit during which the

students learned about gravity and the Three Laws of Motion.

"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction," said Becky

Corrigan, as she rattled off Newton's Third Law without a pause.

The students had received their rocket kits from a science supply company

(Estes Rocket) and put them together over a period of two days.

"We mostly had to wait for the glue to dry," said Becky modestly.

They named their craft, writing the words "Lightning," "Willow I,"

"Nightmare," "Merlin 31" or "Rusty Rocket" along the fuselage.

Hawley School science/math specialist Debbie Cowden, who helped the students

and teachers with Launch Day preparations, couldn't contain her excitement

when everything went as well as she'd hoped.

"I just love this!" Mrs Cowden said several times, as the students lined up to

launch.

She said all the fifth graders in the Newtown system would be doing the rocket

project this spring as part of their science curriculum.

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Well that is some spin. The Democrats have a super majority on the LC and passed the Education Budget without serious consideration of if the voters could afford the multi million dollar increase. "Was the request justified?" rather than "is this needed?" and "can the voters shoulder yet another large increase?" The voters rightly sent it back. Then for some reason all the discussion around reductions to the increase seemed to be coming from the classroom, rather than administration and overhead costs. Is this a coercive tactic to manipulate parents into supporting the budget like tacit threat of cutting freshman sports was two years ago? Who believes the Democrats did not caucus privately before the meeting and came in with a number already worked out? This is the Dems budget, they own it.

Education Cuts: Who Voted For What

I think it is important that we do not villainize every black box seen around a home, business, farm, or municipal property. A black exterior station does not always mean rat poison is being used. These stations can hold a number of different products, including monitoring blocks, snap traps, non-toxic bait, anti-tick bait stations, organic salt- or cornmeal-based control products, and newer fertility-control approaches intended to reduce rodent populations without traditional poisons. The better conversation, in my opinion, is not simply “black boxes are bad,” but rather: what is inside them, who is maintaining them, and whether the rodent issue is being managed responsibly. Exclusion, sanitation, trapping, habitat reduction, and careful monitoring should all be part of a responsible IPM strategy. To be fair, on my own property I do use rodenticides, including Bromethalin and Bromadiolone, in secured bait stations. But that is a choice I make for my property, based on my circumstances and the risk I am trying to manage. I also believe property owners should understand the tradeoffs and be encouraged to use the least harmful effective method whenever possible. I support protecting Newtown’s wildlife. I also support giving residents accurate information and not assuming that every black box represents reckless or unsafe pest control. The goal should be responsible rodent management, not fear of the box itself.

Discusses Policy Against Rodenticides

Debora, thank you! I accidentally doubled the project prices by adding the bond to the appropriation. Thank you so much for catching that and pointing it out. With the corrected numbers, the voters approved a combined $1.32 million for a salt shed ($600k) and library pavement ($720k), while rejecting the $1.12 million replacement turf. Regarding the 80s, I truly respect the hurdle of 14% mortgage rates. My point is simply that the math has shifted: in 1980, while the rates were higher, the price of a home relative to earnings was significantly lower. We are facing a different, but equally crushing, financial wall. Ultimately, it is disheartening that voters who recognized safe sidewalks and parking lots as essential, dismissed a playing field in the exact same condition. The turf has passed its life cycle and is just as much of a liability as the library’s pavement, the only difference is that this safety concern affects thousands of children who, coincidentally, cannot vote. These are apples-to-apples needs. I was hopeful our community would agree that all Newtown residents deserve safe conditions, regardless of which facility they utilize. Again, I would be remiss not to mention that when 82% of residents don’t show up, we have to deal with the interests of those who did. Hopefully, the next referendum will have a bigger turnout.

The ‘Me’ Generation

Thanks for the reply. I meant the numbers you presented in your letter. I found one place where other numbers were listed: https://www.newtownbee.com/04232026/get-out-and-vote-on-the-2026-27-proposed-municipal-and-school-budgets/?q=\\\%22advisory%20questions\\\%22. In that article, the numbers were cited as: Treadwell field: $1,125,000 Library: $720,000 Salt Storage: $600,000 As one who started out in the early 80's when inflation was double digits, my 1985 mortgage rate was 14%, and child care costs were comparable (in present value), I shared your grief but never considered the voters ironic or shameful. PS. I agree college tuition is ridiculous. Thankfully, universities are offering (or considering) waiving all or most tuition for middle class families (upwards of $200,000 incomes). Hopefully, they'll also reconsider their need for those funds in the first place.

Sure! Child care costs: https://www.ffyf.org/2022/10/13/data-child-care-prices-continue-to-rise-ahead-of-midterm-elections-outpacing-inflation/ (also from 2021-2025 we had 2 children in a local daycare in Newtown and it cost us $3200 a month, so that's a number I am very familiar with) Home price / median price vs income source: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/home-price-income-ratios Tuition increase vs inflation: https://feed.georgetown.edu/access-affordability/noting-a-decline-in-middle-class-students-colleges-provide-more-aid/ Hope this helps :)

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Date: Fri 09-May-1997

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