{"id":87794,"date":"2024-08-21T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/?p=87794"},"modified":"2024-08-22T08:56:54","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T12:56:54","slug":"chemical-engineering-senior-explores-world-through-rocket-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/08_21_2024\/chemical-engineering-senior-explores-world-through-rocket-kids","title":{"rendered":"Chemical Engineering Senior Explores World Through Rocket Kids\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gregory Zickes is a committed chemical engineering student at The University of Toledo.<\/p>\n

He’s mulled over the chemical reactions that have propelled his team\u2019s vehicle forward in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers\u2019 Chem-E Car-Competition. He\u2019s put his coursework to practice in two co-ops at Anderson Development Company, a chemical manufacturing facility in Adrian, Mich. And he\u2019s expanded his professional network through the local chapter of the professional engineering fraternity Theta Tau.<\/p>\n

\"Gregory

Gregory Zickes, a chemical engineering senior who spent the summer on a military base in the Netherlands through Rocket Kids, took advantage of weekend travel opportunities to visit destinations such as the Eiffel Tower.<\/p><\/div>\n

But Zickes, a second-generation Rocket who\u2019s on track to graduate with his bachelor\u2019s degree in December 2025, has also been conscientious about exploring opportunities beyond UToledo\u2019s College of Engineering. It’s a key reason he opted to spend the summer not in a classroom, laboratory, or office, but on a military base in Brunssum, Netherlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to just be an engineering student,\u201d Zickes said. \u201cI wanted to explore the world, and the Rocket Kids program has been a great opportunity to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rocket Kids is a UToledo-led program that recruits and trains current students and recent graduates from across the country to provide quality child development at military bases around the world. Housed in the UToledo Judith Herb College of Education, Rocket Kids launched in February, 2023, with a $11.5 million, five-year grant through the Department of Army Installation Management Command-Europe NAF.<\/p>\n

Zickes recently participated in the program\u2019s second summer cohort as one of more than 75 interns based at nine military bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

Any U.S. citizen enrolled at a U.S. college or university is eligible to apply to intern with Rocket Kids, which trains students online and in-person at UToledo, Indiana State and San Diego State. Applicants in any academic program are welcome, so long as they have experience working with children in a professional group setting.<\/p>\n

Zickes was pleased to learn of his own eligibility in a conversation with a friend who had enjoyed his summer in Brussels, Belgium, so much that he was planning to sign up for the second summer of Rocket Kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d assumed I needed to be an education major to participate,\u201d Zickes said. \u201cI found out that wasn\u2019t the case, and I thought, OK, maybe I should think about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zickes applied and was placed at the School Age Center in the U.S. Army Garrison Benelux-Brunssum in the Netherlands, where he and his fellow interns spent the summer planning outings and activities and generally looking after the children of military families who range in age from kindergarten to fifth grade. Some activities were a hit, he said, while others demonstrated the importance of adapting on the fly \u2014 maybe letting the kids take the lead and make up a game involving dodgeballs, plastic cones and gymnastics-mat \u201cislands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Travel opportunities during the weekends were another highlight of his experience with Rocket Kids, he said, describing whirlwind trips to destinations like Amsterdam, Munich and Paris.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn one day we saw the Cathedral of Notre, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower and Catacombs,\u201d he recalled of Paris. \u201cIt was exhausting, but it was so cool to see all of the sites in person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gregory

Zickes participated in the program\u2019s second summer cohort as one of more than 75 interns based at nine military bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.<\/p><\/div>\n

Now back at UToledo, Zickes is looking toward his final semesters on campus and his final of three paid, semester-long co-ops in the College of Engineering.<\/p>\n

A point of distinction for the college, the integrated co-op program proved particularly attractive to Zickes when he was considering where to enroll after his graduation from Toledo\u2019s St. Francis de Sales School in 2021.<\/p>\n

“I knew I\u2019d want to buy a house soon after I graduated. I didn\u2019t want to have to deal with student loan debt that would affect my ability to follow my dreams,\u201d Zickes said. \u201cUToledo is very affordable as an accredited engineering school that requires co-ops, so it was an easy decision for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zickes said he can appreciate how his co-op experiences so far have prepared him for a career as a chemical engineer. And, perhaps less obviously, he can appreciate how his experience with the children at the military base has prepared him, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the big takeaways for me is that I\u2019ll be working with a lot of different people throughout my life, and it\u2019s important to know how to communicate with them,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s kids or coworkers, communication will take you a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rocket Kids is currently recruiting students for the spring semester. For more information and to apply, visit the <\/em>Rocket Kids website<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"Gregory<\/a>

Gregory Zickes, a second-generation Rocket, spent the summer on a military base in the Netherlands through the UToledo-led program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":908,"featured_media":87795,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,34,36,356,1,71,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87794"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87794"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87799,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87794\/revisions\/87799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}