Washburn Rural JROTC cadets will take a new club’s educational purposes higher.

“The club was started in August when we had our first club meeting,” MSgt. Vernon Long said.

According to Long, the club will fly rockets and drones provided by the Air Force.

The club will be held in class and outside on the northwest field of the school. During these club times, the cadets will be learning the parts of a rocket and how they work. They will also be learning how to fly drones safely.

“A student must be enrolled in JROTC to be a club member,” Long said.

Club members are excited about the possibilities of the new club.

“I’m really excited for it,” sophomore Joe Sittenauer said. “I look forward to learning how rockets work, what they’re made up of and how they’re built.”

The cadets will build a model rocket at school and then build their own at home. Additionally, students will get to fly drones. They will start out with little hand-held drones and then they will takes tests/qualifiers to move on to bigger drones. For some of these qualifiers, they will fly the drones in certain patterns and through obstacles.

Sittenauer said he already has his own drone at home that he will use.

“I really enjoyed the first day,” Sittenauer said. “I’ve launched one rocket of my own before and I really enjoyed it, so I think the rocket portion will be very educational and enjoyable.”