Far too often, when youth are mentioned, it is in bad light. I was blessed recently to meet with what I hope is our future. Five young students from Gina Pereda’s 8th grade science class at the Ferguson Florissant School District STEAM Academy Middle School completely wowed me with not only their smarts, but eagerness to work as a team to accomplish a common goal: success.
The team was selected as winners of NASA’s TechRise Student Challenge which is a national science competition by NASA to receive a $1500 grant. They will work directly with NASA mentors to complete their project which will be launched on a future NASA rocket powered lander test flight on a test field designed to simulate the moon’s surface.
Their project centers around detecting vibrations of a rocket as it rises in altitude and the temperature changes that occur as a result. They hope to build a sensor that will give astronauts advanced notice of these changes which will allow them to deploy early safety measures.
They explained to me the constraints and parameters they are faced with. The project has size and weight concerns as it has to fit in an area the size of a Velveeta box. By working on this project they hope to learn new skills that will give them experience and hopefully open doors in their future.
With a spring deadline looming, they meet weekly with NASA to assure their project is on schedule and within budget. Impressive? Even more so when I learned this was the schools first time entering the contest.
– Papa Deau
