As the school day ends at Stewart Elementary School in Lubbock, a group of students prepares for their final rocket club meeting. For Major, Emma, Jace, Ava, Noah, M’Kaelah and Araceli, the after-school program offers more than an introduction to science—it also provides a way for families to connect with each other.
The rocket club is supported by Texas Tech University’s College of Health & Human Sciences researcher Kyle Roberson and his undergraduate research team. The initiative receives additional backing from the university’s STEM Center for Outreach, Research & Education (STEM CORE). According to Roberson, family involvement is a key part of the program. “We invite the kids’ families in as part of rocket club,” he said. “That’s a crucial part of why we do this.”
Christina Roberson, Kyle’s wife and a third-grade teacher at Stewart Elementary, observed changes among parents who participated in the club with their children. “We’ve noticed parents don’t know each other, even if their kids are in class together,” Christina said. “But as they started attending rocket club with their kids and doing hands-on work together, we’ve seen them start exchanging phone numbers and their kids now have play dates outside of school.”
Building relationships is only one aspect of the program’s goals. Roberson noted that engaging families at school can impact academic outcomes. A 2023 survey from the National Center for Education Statistics found that such engagement is linked to better GPAs, improved attendance and higher graduation rates.
Stewart Elementary serves a student population where 89% come from economically disadvantaged households. Many families want to be involved but face barriers such as multiple jobs or unreliable transportation.
Roberson described initial challenges when launching the club: “There was a lack of parent buy-in at first,” he said. Over time, participation increased; last semester’s launch event included 43 adults—parents, grandparents and siblings.
Parents are invited to various events throughout the semester leading up to rocket launches. “They help the kids assemble the rockets and we get them working together,” Roberson explained.
Undergraduate assistant Tarali Fincke plays an important role in facilitating activities. Fincke studies nutritional sciences at Texas Tech University and is an Air Force ROTC cadet. She joined Roberson’s research team after presenting her early childhood vocabulary research at an undergraduate conference in spring 2025.
Fincke brings personal experience to her work—her father is currently serving on the International Space Station as an astronaut; her mother is an engineer; and her brother serves in Space Force. Fincke plans to attend medical school and eventually train as a flight surgeon for NASA.
She values opportunities at Texas Tech that allow her direct interaction with participants: “I’ve worked in other labs before and most of the time you’re working with secondary data sets,” she said. “But here, I get to go interact with participants and collect that data myself.”
During meetings, students learn about physics concepts while assembling model rockets under guidance from Roberson and Fincke. Earlier this year Astronaut Fincke sent Stewart Elementary students a video message from space—a moment that left many students excited about STEM careers.
“We’re exposing the kids to things they otherwise might not see at this age,” Kyle explained. He pointed out that some participants had never visited local science centers or attended campus events prior to joining rocket club.
In November, members attended STEM CORE’s Family STEM Night on campus alongside their parents—a chance for families to engage further with science programming offered by Texas Tech University.
Christina Roberson highlighted how partnerships have helped foster community: “The last two years that Stewart Elementary has partnered with STEM CORE has been a huge hit,” she said. “They’ve helped our families build community and have allowed us to offer this at no cost to the parents.”
For more information about similar outreach efforts through Texas Tech University visit its Outreach & Engagement website. Details about engaged scholarship offered through STEM CORE are available here.
