Student Spotlight: Sophomore Starts Rocketry Club

Although he is only a sophomore, Gabriel “Gabe” Enghauser already knows what he would like to be in the future. 

An astronaut. 

Gabe has spearheaded the creation of the new “Rocketry Club,” with plans to enter the American Rocketry Challenge (ARC) later this school year. 

The world’s largest rocket contest gives nearly 5,000 middle and high school students the opportunity “to design, build, and launch model rockets, as well as hands-on experience solving engineering problems.” 

The Rocketry Club meets regularly as part of the new DLS lunchtime schedule which gives students the opportunity to belong to any of the nearly 40 clubs.

Gabe said the first Rocketry Club meeting attracted nearly 20 students, and in the future, as they prepare for competition, they will be meeting after school. 

“Every single field of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) as well as Medicine is part of a rocketry program,” Gabe said. 

Gabe said that the rockets for the American Rocketry Challenge must meet certain specifications. Judges consider how close the model rocket is to those specs, as well as how long the rocket can stay in the air.
https://rocketcontest.org/about/

An additional piece of the competition involves including an egg in the rocket as the “payload” with the goal of having an intact, unbroken egg when the rocket lands.  

Mr. Rob Black, who moderates both the Rocketry and the Robotics teams, says, “Gabe is a highly motivated individual who has a passion for STEM. Even as a sophomore, he is a leader of our Robotics team and is the driving force behind the creation of the Rocketry Club this year.”

Gabe said he has been inspired to travel in space since pre-school. 

“I really want to travel in space and explore spaces humans haven’t gone to,” Gabe said. “ I hope to find technologies that could help humanity forever.”

He plans to major in aerospace engineering in college and is already thinking about applying for the U.S. Naval Academy or the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Gabe carries a 4.0+ GPA and is enrolled in a variety of Honors classes this year. He has played the trumpet since fourth grade and is a member of the DLS Concert Band. 

He has also taught himself how to play the didgeridoo, a wind instrument similar to the flute, originally used by Australian aborigines. 

Once tutoring schedules are set up, Gabe plans to tutor and to apply the DLS National Honor Society. He was in the Junior National Honor Society while at St. Germaine  Grade School in St. Clair Shores, where he was the valedictorian for his eighth-grade class. 

His two older brothers are alumni; Julian ‘16 attended Oakland University and studied film, while David ‘21 is studying business at Michigan State University. 

His parents are Kevin Enghauser and Rebecca McDonald-Enghauser, and the family lives in Macomb Township. 

Whenever possible, the family still attends church at Sg. Germaine. “Even though I graduated from St. Germaine almost two years ago, we are still extremely close to the community there,” Gabe said. “It is a testament to the great community at that school, especially since the education there helped build the foundation of everything I have learned so far.” 

Student Spotlight: Sophomore Starts Rocketry Club
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