It's a special kind of student who loves rockets and the culture that's part of building them. Their classmates just don't get these rocket lovers when they talk about fireballs (when a rocket goes up and takes an immediate nosedive), Snow Ranch (where they have practice launches), raw eggs and 60-second flights.

Their enthusiasm, hours of dedication and advanced knowledge of rocketry has paid off. Four out of five teams from Los Gatos High and Raymond J. Fisher Middle schools qualified in early April to compete in the finals of the prestigious Team America Rocketry Challenge, the world's largest model rocket contest.

Since the beginning of the school year, the teams have been toiling over their prized, custom-made rockets. It's a long process of trial and error—designing rockets with special computer software, watching some get destroyed in launches, then salvaging the parts and rebuilding them again, said eighth-grader Adam Fisher.

Almost 10,000 students on 712 teams attempted to meet the contest's rigorous requirements, but only the top 100 teams are going to nationals, according to Los Gatos parent volunteer Doug McNeil. There were only seven teams from California that made the cut, four of them from Los Gatos. The students will travel to compete in the massive fly-off on May 21 in Great Meadow, Va.

"I want them to have a good time," said Fisher Middle School's teacher-advisor Steve Hum. "I want them to feel like they gave it their best. I want to bring back some enthusiasm for this. It's impressive. Their competition is high school engineering students."

The event will be attended by not only many Los Gatos parents and family members, but the CEOs of major aerospace companies, astronauts, politicians and Homer Hickam himself, the author of the best-selling memoir Rocket Boys, which was made into the acclaimed rocketry movie, October Sky.

The contest requires that students design, build and test a model rocket that can fly for as close to 60 seconds for the total flight duration as possible. It might seem easy enough, McNeil said, but the catch is a payload inside the rocket of two raw eggs that must successfully parachute to the ground unbroken. The top 10 teams share a prize pool of $60,000 in savings bonds and cash.

"It's applied academics," said McNeil, an engineer who worked for Lockheed Martin for 25 years and ended up arming and firing full-size rockets through his career there. "These kids are taking math, physics and science and applying those disciplines and building a product."

McNeil's love of rocketry is a childhood dream and passion he has now passed down to his daughter, Jessica, just as Hum has transferred it to his two children, Mariah and Walker, who are on the qualifying local teams. It's also Hum's volunteer efforts that have helped lead the team to success this year.

"He really relates well and connects with the kids," McNeil said. "Steve has a great disposition."

Hum has also played a part in the past two years of successful Fisher Middle School rocketry. The success is evident because the Los Gatos High students have independently continued the program after they graduated from the middle school. Hum said he enjoys the family commitment to the program, the barbecues at launches and the team participation.

"It's a chance to work with these kids outside of the school day, and it's something they are motivated to do," Hum said. "I also just really like rockets. Science is a passion for me."

The local team members include: Los Gatos High School—sophomores Chris Lord, Guy Zohar, David Raynaud and JT Taylor and freshmen Alec Brasier and Mina Fadaie; Fisher Middle School—seventh-graders Mariah Hum, Jessica McNeil, CJ Griffin, Brittney Aresta, Samantha Payne, Chase Khamashta and Jacob Pfund and eighth-graders Bobby Tchelepi, Adam Fisher, Joe Pierce, Evan Bondonno, Ryan Rector and Walker Hum.

"This weekend, we're going to go spirit shopping," said Mariah, jumping up and down with excitement.

She said the Los Gatos teams will be wearing colorful, wacky attire like hula skirts and Mexican sombreros to distinguish themselves at the national competition, even though these rocketry lovers already tend to stand out.

Any individual or company interested in sponsoring the Los Gatos teams can contact parent volunteer Doug McNeil at mcneilds@comcast.net or teacher-advisor Steve Hum at hum@lgusd.k12.ca.us.