Student Bios

Want to know more about our 13 team members?       

Claire:  Payload Team

        Claire is in her third year in the KSAT program, and is continuing with her GT classes. She has been on the all-A honor roll for her entire school career and hopes to keep that up. Claire wanted to be in the SL class because she loves challenging herself in Rocketry and trying newer and harder things.She is involved in extracurricular activities like academic UIL, NJHS, FCA, and school sports. Claire has medaled at UIL events in Science; Dictionary Skills; and Maps, Graphs, and Charts; and has ribboned in almost all of the other events. She was on the A teams for volleyball and basketball her 7th grade year and is playing volleyball and running track this year. Claire has taken dance classes since she was 3 years old and is taking Tap, Jazz, and Lyrical this year. She took the SAT test in 7th grade and received an achievement through the Duke TIP program. Claire loves her Advanced Art class as well as volunteering. She loves animals and hopes to become a veterinarian.

Katie: Payload Team

    Katie has had an interest in rocketry ever since she was little. Her father and grandfather were the two largest inspirations for her interest in engineering and aerospace. She is in her third year at KSAT and is completing GT classes. She participates in the Varsity 1 band and has made the top region band this past year. She also participates in all events in Academic UIL. She has received medals in Maps, Graphs, and Charts; Social Studies; and Dictionary Skills; as well and many ribbons in all events. Katie also plays on the school A team volleyball and basketball team. She also participates in other extracurricular activities such as FCA and NJHS. Katie loves doing activities with Community Bible Church as well. She was Valedictorian in sixth grade. Katie has also maintained A honor roll throughout every class and works to possibly start a business or become an engineer of some sort.

Rachel: Team Leader  / Web designer / Payload Team

    Throughout her middle school career, Rachel has been a patron of many clubs and activities.  In sixth grade, she joined the soccer club as the only girl. Now she is one of three team leaders. She is also  involved with the chess club, going to Rackspace tournaments and helping the fifth grade science teacher at Walzem Elementary to establish a chess club, supported by rackspace; a cloud company. In seventh grade she went into athletics,playing volleyball and going to track. She also completed painting a 7/3 foot falcon, the school's mascot.( Falcon) The piece is now hanging in the front hallway of the school.Rachel is always found after school, either in volleyball practice or the art and computer lab rooms volunteering. 

    This year in eighth grade, she’s joining PALS, or Peer Assistance Leadership and Service, as an Honorary member.She is also aiming for the scholastic sponsored scholarship in visual art. Only four students in the district receive the   award. Also in her art portfolio are four blue ribbon awarded pieces, along with two bronze, and one silver medal from V.A.S.E.; or Visual Arts Scholastic Event. Rachel joined the KSAT program in the hopes that she would excel in a more rigorous course, and to help her move towards a long term goal. She is currently in pre-ap and GT classes. In the future she hopes to work in the library of congress.

        Madeline: Payload Team

    Madeline loved to build random things such as rockets or little computers made of recycled materials since the age of 5. In 5th grade, she wanted to join the KSAT program at Krueger Middle School because of how they’d be able to program, build rockets, and achieve higher goals. A couple months later after applying, her 5th grade teacher  announced that she was accepted into the program for her middle school years. This news made her very excited. She continues into her last year with lots of accomplishments such as A Honor Roll; 5th place in MATE with her team,an underwater robotics competition; 1st place in Impromptu and Modern Oratory debate; and much more. This year, she  aims to be apart of the ETA program at Roosevelt High School, continue her A-Honor-Roll, and increase her knowledge in the engineering and programming fields. With all goals in sight, she aims to make her 8th grade year a memorable one to her and others.

        Samuel:   Turbine and Payload Teams/ Web Contributor 

   Samuel is an eighth grader at Krueger, in the KSAT program. He has always liked rockets since he can remember. Sam is in GT English and Math, and he enjoys both classes. He plays the piano and had played the violin and the cello before. He has been in the KSAT program since he came. His brother and sister came here and his sister went to DC for Team America. He enjoys working with rockets. Samuel wants to make this year a memorable one, and his best year at Krueger.

Malikai: Photographer / Safety Officer/ Turbine Team

    Malikai has loved rockets since the 4th grade, ever since he found out about Krueger Middle School's KSAT program from the 6th grade rocketry teacher Mrs.Haschke. Malikai is in all GT classes and has had all A's for his past two years at Krueger. Malikai participated in academic UIL and placed in various subjects, such as math, number sense, and maps, graphs, and charts. Malikai has also played on the school's football, basketball, and track and field teams. He started on "A" team for both basketball and football and earned 3rd place in discus. He also played for the McAllister Park 11-12 all star team that went to Waco, Texas to play in the televised regional tournament. His current baseball team is with the National's Scout Team Organization, a team the Washington Nationals themselves sponsor. Malikai has also attended PREP, an engineering summer program at UTSA that he received honors in.

         James: Turbine Team/ Website Contributor 

              James has always had an interest in rocketry. Because his father worked in the Air Force, James moved every two years. For two years, he lived in Florida, and was only a few hours away from NASA’s Kennedy Visitor Center, which helped fuel his interest in rocketry. Later, he moved to Texas, and got accepted into KSAT (Krueger School of Applied Technologies).  This allowed him to study rocketry and get a good grade for it. Now he has the chance to build even greater rockets. Outside of school, he is a part of the Boy Scout Troop 145 and has earned a 2nd degree Black Belt in Taekwondo. Currently, he is a Life Scout, one rank from Eagle Scout. During the summer, he takes advantage of PREP, the San Antonio Prefreshman Engineering Program.  He recently completed his second year. James also enjoys listening to and playing music. He plays Bass Clarinet and made Region Band in 7th grade, while Region band had mostly 8th graders. He has a different approach to problems, but gets the job done.

Connor: Turbine Team

    Connor is an 8th grader attending KSAT, and is very interested in technology and engineering. He is currently enrolled in a programming/coding class, Advanced Android Programming, as well as high school Algebra I. He is also in Pre-ap classes for Science, English, and History, and is the 1st chair euphonium player in the Varsity 1a band. He dreams of someday going into space, and is hoping to be an engineer on a space station. He plays a rocket simulation game called “Kerbal Space Program” in his free time, and is currently an active Boy Scout in Troop 501.

Gabe: Turbine Team

    Gabe is a 8th Grader at KSAT. He was selected for the SLI Rocketry class. He is a black belt in Tai-kwon-do, training for his second degree. He is also a 2 time winner of the Commander's Cup Award for best team at Space Academy. He has always had a love for aerospace and is hoping that he goes to MIT for college. Gabe was also inducted into NJHS, or National Junior Honor Society In 7th grade. He someday hopes to work for Nasa and work on the Mars missions. He also takes part in football as a linebacker and a tight end.

Nathan:  Turbine Team/ Rocksim Specialist 

    Nathan is an A student in all of his classes and plans to keep it that way. He enjoys playing golf and is a member of the school golf team. He also enjoys playing video games and building rockets as a hobby. He intends to make a career in engineering and someday work for a big name developer like DICE or Ubisoft. He first got interested in rockets when he saw a demonstration at an event in elementary school. He's been into rocket science ever since.

Robert: Payload Team/Safety Officer

    Robert was born in Colorado. As a military child, he has moved around the country many times. He has lived in states such as Maryland, Arizona, and Kansas. He is the oldest of three kids: he and his two sisters. He plays the trumpet in the Krueger varsity 1A band. He has participated in many successful rocket launches with his school throughout the past two years. He once built a very odd rocket made to look like a Dr. Pepper can. Robert first became interested in aerospace when he joined the KSAT program and started working with advanced computer programs. In his free time he enjoys playing games on his computer, reading, and drawing. His favorite subjects are math and science. Robert is also skilled in different programs such as Blender, Gimp, and Flash. He also has some experience with programming using Python thanks to a course he is taking. 

Taylor: Turbine Team/Rocksim Specialist 

    Taylor came to KSAT due to excellent grades and influence from his mom. He was drawn to aerospace because of teachings from the 8th grade rocketry teacher. Taylor has also been a part of science UIL in 6th grade, rocketry club in 7th grade, and athletics in 7th and 8th grade. He is currently in Pre-ap history and science classes, as well as an Advanced Android Programing course. At this time, Taylor is aiming to be a marine biologist.

Tyler:  Turbine Team/Saftey Officer

    Tyler was born in Kissimmee, Florida where he grew up watching the space shuttle fly over head. He often would daydream of what it would be like to fly in space. Tyler has always loved rockets. He initially wanted to attend the KSAT program because of his love of rocketry. Now, he has gone to KSAT for two years and has attended all pre-ap and GT classes. This has allowed him to further his knowledge in rocketry and is helping to achieve his final goal of being a NASA astronaut. He has launched rockets for many years and has loved every second of it. Tyler plays on the Kruger football team where he is the starting A team quarterback. He also plays basketball and runs track. He has won several ribbons in all the events he participated. He is also the third chair cello in the Krueger junior varsity orchestra. Tyler maintains an A/B honor roll. He has gone to space camp over the past two years where his team won the Commanders Cup both years in a row. He has participated in several different simulation such as the One Sixth Chair, the Six Degrees of Freedom as well as the Five Degrees of Freedom. In addition, he participated in the Orion and Shuttle Mission Simulations which has nurtured his dream of being a NASA astronaut.