As Memphis continues to make the news for not always good things. We have something to be proud of today. Former Wooddale High School student Darius Hooker recently got the chance of a life time. He and a class mate (Wesley Carter) was granted the opportunity to present a rocket project to President Obama at The White House in Washington, D.C.
Fox 13 Memphis recently cover the exciting news:
The presentation took place during the White House Science Fair in the State Dining Room after qualifying for the 11th annual Team America Rocketry Challenge. “We had to shoot a rocket 800 feet with between 43-47 seconds,” Hooker said, a member of Team Wooddale Cardinal Rockets. “Our rocket made it 801 feet and 45 seconds, so we scored a score of one. The lowest score wins and that put us among the top 10 percent in the country.”
It’s the first time a Mid-South school has ever made it this far in the competition. “I knew he was coming by when he hit that corner,” Hooker recalled. “I almost forgot my own name. I was kind of talking in my head, ‘just get it together,’ but once I started talking to him, he makes you feel real comfortable like talking to anyone else. But it was an honor.” “The rockets that are featured on the picture with Mr. Obama, those were the first two rockets we ever designed,” Hooker said, who is working on his aircrafts mechanics license.
His teammate Carter is in school in Murfreesboro. Hooker says his foundation will always start at Wooddale High. “We keep that piloting in our background so we both fly Cessna 172s,” Hooker said. “But (Carter’s) doing the air traffic control side and I’m doing the aircraft maintenance side.” Hooker says eventually he wants to work for FedEX, Boeing, or maybe Lockheed Martin as the next great aeronautical designer. Once he graduates from Tennessee Tech he plans to enroll at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and graduate with a degree in aerospace engineering. “The sky can’t be the limit,” he said. “If there’s moons or footprints on the moon I always live by that sky’s not the limit.”
It is always exciting to hear positive stories on our youth. Congrats to the (2) young men for representing our city in a great light.
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