Booming studies

CRYSTAL RIVER — There are bottle rockets, and then there are bottles that become rockets.
At the Academy of Environmental Sciences, shooting bottle rockets into the sky on a recent morning was more than just fun.
 

Matthew Beck

Josh Beane, 15, makes sure his rocket is attached properly prior to pressurizing it.

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Matthew Beck

The rockets streak skyward once launched.

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Matthew Beck

Spencer Vick, 14, left, and Garrett Moore, 15, fill one of the rockets with water prior to lift off.

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It was combining air pressure with water and trying to prove Newton’s third law — for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction — using 2-liter plastic bottles.
 

Something about using pressure that pushes the water out and that creates rocket liftoff and — well, you get it.
 

Actually, you get it if you’re one of the 90 fortunate high school students who worked their tails off to attend Citrus County’s only public charter school.
 

Someone like Dylan Stoner, who was helping to measure the height that each rocket reached using an altitude tracker and a little math: angle of bottle rocket from the tracker x 20 = height.
 

Stoner, part of Nancy Pruette’s freshman physical science class, attends the academy as does his brother, Kyle, a senior.
 

“I love it here,” Dylan said. “There are lot more opportunities from being here.”
Mikey Green, also tracking altitude, agreed.
 

“It looks a lot better on a college resume than just regular high school,” said Green, who would like a career in marine biology.
 

The academy received its charter in 1999 through a partnership with individuals, organizations and agencies wanting to further the study of environment on Citrus County’s Gulf Coast. The Citrus County School District is the academy’s charter sponsor.
 

The school district found an ideal location on Fort Island Trail (County Road 44) at the Salt River. A former vacation development called the Salt 44 Resorts, composed of stilted pod-shaped condominiums, became available.
 

A federal grant allowed the city of Crystal River to buy the property, which it leases to the academy for $1 a year.
 

The school has five teachers, including director Ben Stofcheck. It receives student funding from the state just like any other public school and is overseen by a board of directors. There is no tuition.
 

Students, who must pass an interview before being accepted, do not attend the academy full time. Rather, they attend one semester at the academy and another semester at their home school.
 

The curriculum, while science- and environmental-based, includes some core subjects, such as English. The academy has a reputation for its high expectations of students, who must have at least a 2.0 grade point average in science and English to be considered for enrollment.
 

“If you want to have fun all day and go to the beach, this is not the place to hang out all day,” said Stofcheck, who is in his seventh year as academy director.
 

Green was thrilled to get in. When school started, Green attended his home school at Citrus High because he was on a waiting list for the academy.
 

“Someone else had to drop out for me to get in,” he said.
 

Kaely Adkins, whose home school is Crystal River High School, had known about the academy from her father, Hugh Adkins, who oversees the Marine Science Center just across the street.
 

“Ever since my dad started working there, I knew I wanted to come here,” Adkins said. “It’s really more than a school. It’s a good learning environment.”
 

Mrs. Pruette is in her second year at the academy after teaching at a charter school in Oklahoosa County.
 

“Here I’m able to do things like this,” she said. “The academy is much more hands-on. It’s almost like a family unit.”
 

But it’s no picnic.
 

“Kids want to be here and the standards are high,” she said.
Stofcheck said discipline is not an issue.
 

“Zero suspensions, zero fights” in seven years, he said.
 

Stofcheck acknowledged that teaching high school along the Salt River, near the mouth of the Crystal River, has significant advantages.
 

“The site is unique for what we do out here,” he said. “It gives us a nice
perspective.”
 

Chronicle reporter Mike Wright can be reached at 352-563-3228 or mwright@
chronicleonline.com.