Group Of High School Students Proves That Girls Are Great At Rocket Science

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) —  A group of high school students in West Los Angeles destroys that old myth about girls not being good at science.

In fact, this group is not only proficient in science, they're good at rocket science -- and they are headed to a national competition.

But as CBS2's Kristine Lazar reports, they will need some financial help to get there.

Their rocket had to go 850 feet in the air -- with two raw eggs as cargo and land the eggs intact within 44--46 seconds.

And they did it. It's an all-girls team from Notre Dame Academy.

"To see it go all the way up there is a really cool experience," said Olivia Lee. "I don't think anyone really realizes how powerful they are."

The team is pretty powerful, too.

There is only one other all-girls rocketry team in the state.And the team at Notre Dame Academy has been in existence for less than three years.

They meet and master their craft in the back of teacher Kathy Griffis' classroom.

"I don't know if they told you that several of their rockets landed in a tree," Griffis said, "and you spend weeks on it. Panting it, making it beautiful. And now it's up in a tree and we would have to leave it behind. And they would pick themselves back up again."

Many of the girls admit they weren't terribly excited when their parents' signed them up.

"As first I wasn't sure," said Tessa Kardassakis, " I went, oh, I don't know. That's on Fridays. Do I really want to stay after school to do this? I tried it and I loved it."

Team R2G2 (which stands for Robots, Rockets Girls and Griffins -- the school's mascot) will head to Virginia next month for the competition.

But only six of the students can afford to make the nationals. The group has started an online fundraiser.

"Even though I won't physically be there," said one student, "I'm very happy that we're given the opportunity."

These girls are so dedicated to rocketry, they're even missing their junior prom because it's the same weekend as nationals.

"There's always time to wear a dress," said Lee, "I might even wear it to the competition."

She's hoping R2G2 inspires other young women.

"That's something I really feel is important," she said, "is getting the exposure to little girls and showing them you can be an engineer, you can build rockets. You can build robots."

For more information about their fundraising effort, click here.