Introduction

SF Faculty Train in Guitar, Rocket and Robot Building to Prepare for New Fall Course

SF Faculty Train in Guitar, Rocket and Robot Building to Prepare for New Fall Course

Rocket building portion of GRRATE (Guitars, Rocketry, Robotics Advanced Technological Education) at the Santa Fe College Watson Center
Rocket building portion of GRRATE (Guitars, Rocketry, Robotics Advanced Technological Education) at the Santa Fe College Watson Center.

May 22, 2019 – A group of Santa Fe College faculty and staff trained in guitar, rocket and robot building over the past month to prepare for an innovative new course that will premier in the fall. Wide World of Science (course ISC1006) is a hands-on, project-based class that uses guitar building, rocket launching, and robot design to encourage underrepresented students to consider coursework and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The project is nicknamed GRRATE, an acronym for Guitars Rocketry Robotics Advanced Technological Education, and is funded through a nearly half-million-dollar grant awarded to the college by the National Science Foundation – grant #1800955.

In fall 2019, the class target students in rural communities at SF’s Andrews Center in Starke, the Davis Center in Archer and the Watson Center in Keystone Heights. There will also be GRRATE classes at the Blount Center in downtown Gainesville.

Students must fill out an application to be considered to take the course. Each class culminates in a final project build and a trip to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

For more information, visit sfcollege.edu/GRRATE.