Sijan Chapter Launches 5th Graders into STEM Careers

AFA’s Lance P. Sijan Chapter #125 participated in the 5^th Grade Rocket Launch Program conducted throughout Colorado Springs school districts in September and October 2026. It is one way the chapter helps support STEM education in the Colorado Springs area.

The launch program is sponsored and organized by Lockheed Martin and is the culmination of a block of structured study in the various schools. Students study rocketry in their science and math classes and then apply that learning during the launches, measuring altitude, trajectory, and speed.

Sijan Chapter leadership—President Dave Geuting, Executive Vice President Ed Duffett, and former President Caty Rozema—helped organize volunteers on launch days, where they helped students place engines in their rockets, attach the rockets to the launchers, and launch the rockets.

The Sijan Chapter also supported the program by purchasing the rockets and engines for School District 38.

“This collaboration between AFA and our strong community partner Lockheed Martin is a perfect example of how we can pool our resources to help produce the next generation of STEM professionals and, hopefully, Space Force officers,” said Geuting.