iBerkshires: Kids Have a Literal Blast at Flying Cloud STEM Camp

Asa and Axel Clark say the camp is educational and hands-on, especially enjoying chasing and catching the rockets as they floated back to the ground.

By Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Kids had a literal blast at summer camp this week. 

On Friday, students of the Flying Cloud Institute's Future Innovators Camp launched their model rockets at Herberg Middle School after a week studying the physics of flight.

Campers raced across the field to catch the rockets as they parachuted to the ground after shooting into the air from a homemade launchpad. They spent the week at the Berkshire Innovation Center preparing for launch, taught by education coordinator Christian Drake and volunteer David Doyle. 

"Basically the kids come for a whole week of learning rocketry, different forms of physics concepts," Flying Cloud's Development Manager Stephanie DuPont said. 

"This year it was the physics of flight. Last year they did astrophysics, so each year there's a different topic." 

Asa and Axel Clark attended the camp together and found the camp to be educational and hands-on, especially enjoying chasing and catching the rockets as they float back to the ground. 

"I think this was a good start," said Axel, an aspiring engineer. "I learned a lot of new stuff, and it was really fun."