I created the High-Power Rocket Bootcamp and I run it, including the money. It is free for every student because companies, foundations, institutions, and volunteers carry the cost. This page is for the people who want to carry some of it.
I created and run the program, and I manage the money. Every dollar buys kits, the materials that go into building them, and transport to the launch field. Nothing is charged to a family.
Kit, motor, paint, tools, venue, food, and transport add up to about $325 per participant. That is what one student costs, end to end. The family pays $0.
From MEPI, Cummins, Lilly, and Purdue University. Every dollar has gone into the program.
Kits, motors, paint and hardware are bought from American small businesses. 23 of them have been directly funded so far.
The record behind the numbers: the letter of recognition from the Governor of Indiana, the Lilly, Indiana State Museum and City of Fishers listings, the press coverage, and the claims index that maps every public claim to its document.
One page you can forward: what the bootcamp is, the numbers, what a dollar buys, who funds it, how safety is run, and the three ways to help.
High-Power Rocket Bootcamp. Marion County, Indiana. Free for every student. One page, October 2026. Tanaka Chonyera, founder and Flyer of Record. [email protected], tanakachonyera.com/support.
Students build, paint, and launch their own high-power rocket, and it is free. I started the bootcamp in August 2025. I run the program and I manage the money. The rockets fly up to 5,000 feet, and every student takes theirs home.
336 rockets built. 170+ launched. 220+ participants. 9 cohorts. $155K raised. $0 cost to families.
What a student gets. One 5-hour build day: build and paint their own high-power rocket with a trained volunteer at the table. A launch day at an approved launch site under FAA airspace coordination. Aerodynamics, propulsion, recovery systems, and how airspace gets cleared, learned by doing it. Ages 8 and up. Ages 6 and 7 with a parent at the table.
What a dollar buys. About $325 per student: kit, motor, paint, tools, venue, food and transport. The family pays $0. Funds buy kits, the materials that go into building them, and transport to the launch field. 23 US small businesses directly funded through kit, motor and hardware purchases. 2,800+ student contact hours so far across 5 Indiana communities and 10+ partner institutions.
Who has funded it. MEPI, Cummins, Lilly, Purdue University. Program partners: Indiana State Museum, City of Fishers, Enlace Academy, Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, Indiana Rocketry, Rocketeers of Central Indiana.
Safety. Run under OSHA's hierarchy of controls and the capital construction safety standards I use as a project manager at Lilly. Kids never touch a motor or an igniter. I buy, store, load and arm every one. I am the Flyer of Record for every rocket, and a Tripoli Rocketry Association and National Association of Rocketry certified mentor. 50+ trained, background-checked adult volunteers. Four training cohorts so far.
Recognition. Letter of recognition from Governor Mike Braun of Indiana, 2026. NSBE 25 Under 25 honoree, 2026. Coverage on WTHR, Fox59 / CBS4 Indy Now, iHeartRadio, and in The Week Junior.
The goal. 1,000 rockets built by students, free. 336 down, 664 to go. Every figure above is documented at tanakachonyera.com/recognition#claims.
Fund a cohort. $325 covers one student end to end. Email me with "Funding" in the subject line. Host a build day. A room with tables for about 5 hours. I bring the kits, paint, tools, trained volunteers and paperwork. Volunteer. Training and a background check are required. Sign up at tanakachonyera.com/join.
Figures as of October 2026, from program attendance records and funding agreements.
Email me with "Funding" in the subject line. Tell me whether you have a community, a school, or a number of students in mind, and I will come back to you with what that cohort takes.
Build days happen wherever a partner gives me a room. So far that has been Indianapolis, Fishers, Lebanon, and launch days in Muncie and at Sheridan Airport. Past hosts and program partners include the Indiana State Museum, the City of Fishers Maker Playground, Enlace Academy, and Girl Scouts of Central Indiana.
A room with tables for one cohort, for about five hours. Building and painting happen on site.
The kits, paint, tools, the trained volunteers, the waivers and paperwork, and me. I am the Flyer of Record for every rocket built in your room.
Rockets fly on a separate day at an approved launch site under FAA airspace coordination.
Schools, museums, parks departments, youth organizations, libraries, company sites. If you have the room and the students, we can talk.
Email me with "Hosting" in the subject line, with the venue, the number of students you have in mind, and the months that work for you.
50+ trained adults run the program with me. Four volunteer training cohorts so far, and a volunteer at every table on build day.
Sit with students through the five-hour build, help on launch day, carry rockets, and keep the day moving.
I train every volunteer myself. Four training cohorts have gone through so far.
Required for every volunteer. No exceptions.
Use the same form as the students and mark yourself as a volunteer. I will call you.