In order to integrate meaningful, hands-on science education in public K-12 settings, the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) Atmospheric Sciences Program has developed the Louisiana Lower Atmosphere Research Collaborative (LaLARC). This project teams ULM faculty and students with K-12 school teachers and their students to launch model rockets loaded with atmospheric sensors and data recorders. The rockets are launched at different times and in different atmospheric conditions at various school locations in Louisiana. ULM and K-12 partners then interpret the data to construct a profile of the lowermost atmosphere. School teachers and their students benefit by engaging in an collaborative scientific enterprise, being able to translate mathematics and science content of the project into other future hands-on activities, be an official repository of atmospheric boundary layer data and being connected to university scientists and students. ULM students and faculty benefit by taking teaching and learning outside the classroom, and by becoming stakeholders in the academic progress of regional schools.