Lawrence Jackson Jr./ The Gazette Francisco Ceron, 16 of Langley Park and Henry Linares, 15, of Beltsville compare finishes on their rockets Saturday at Capitol College in Laurel where the group of Hispanic teens prepared to launch their rockets after a week of experience with engineering products at the college.

But High Point High School student Kelvin Escobar, 16, of Hyattsville, learned about them through experience on Saturday.

He launched a rocket he had built, attaching fins at the base to increase its surface area beneath its center of gravity ­ nearly 800 feet in the air.

"It's been fun," said Escobar of the program that allowed him to do this, sponsored by Laurel's Capitol College and the Beltsville-based PerkinElmer Fluid Sciences unit. "Some of the stuff that we've done in physics, we actually get to do it by building a rocket."

The program, Raising Hispanic Awareness of Engineering, is in its second year of a joint effort between the high school, the college and the company. It aims to nurture an interest in engineering among a group that is vastly underrepresented in the field, said facilitator Tony Miller.

High Point has one of the largest populations of Hispanic students in the state, at 39 percent of its total student population. So Capitol College officials, who had success with similar programs for other student groups, thought it would be a great partnership, Miller said.

High Point Math Department Head Julie Snyder agreed, and brought seven students in this year.

"I thought ... it would make them aware of opportunities for them," she said. "They think that some of these types of fields are off limits to them, they're out of their reach."

But the students responded well, she added. Each of them was selected by their math teachers, and approached by Snyder to give it a try.

Although not all of them are ready to plan careers in aeronautical engineering, the students found the classroom instruction and hands-on rocket construction engaging.

"It just showed me that I am more interested in these kinds of fields," said incoming junior Francisco Ceron, 16, of Langley Park.

And Mallory Amaya, 15, of Beltsville, also an incoming junior, said, "I always like trying different things."

The program began June 21 and ended with a picnic Saturday. It included the launching, and incorporated math and science and technology instruction in the mornings. Their lunchtimes sometimes involved a speaker, and afternoon time was spent working on the rockets.

PerkinElmer funded the program with an initial $10,000 grant last year, but Institutional Relations Vice President Richard Beall said the college was going to approach leaders in the larger Hispanic community for support in expanding and lengthening the program. "We want to go out and collaborate with other funding sources," he said.

Other students attending the program included Henry Linares, 15, of Beltsville, Claudia Jacome, 17, of Langley Park, and twins Carlos and Ernesto Batenga, 15, of Beltsville.

E-mail Ayesha Ahmad at

aahmad@gazette.net.