SHS students to compete at NASA

(Photo by Kris Todd) Several Spencer High School students have been invited to participate in the 2009 Space Settlement Design Competition March 6-8 at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Their tuition to the event is being paid by the Spencer Community School Foundation (SCSF). SCSF representatives and participants include, front row from left, Heidi Toale, SCSF executive director, Joel Glover, Andrew Upah and Dick Montgomery, SCSF president. Middle row from left, Abby Bedore, Sarah Dillard, Rebecca Florke and Mary Krull. Back row from left, Craig Cunningham, Aaron Brockshus and Tyler Kramer. Nick Lewis not pictured. [Order this photo]

Spencer High School (SHS) has several students who will be traveling to Houston next month to participate in the 2009 Space Settlement Design Competition at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center.

This marks the first year students from the local school district have been invited to take part in the annual contest which has youth participating in an engineering industry simulation.

After forming companies such as Rockwell Collins, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas, the teams of students will respond to a request for proposal to build a city in space.

"Our particular mission this time is to create the proposal to build an orbiting city around the moon," Jim Christensen, who runs the NASA Educator Resource Center at Northwest Area Education Agency (AEA), explained about the upcoming competition.

Christensen hosted teacher workshops at Johnson Space Center, as well as worked as an educational specialist in its Teaching in Space office, during the summer months. The former Galva-Holstein teacher was invited to bring a handful of northwest Iowa students to take part in the Houston-based competition for several years beginning in 2000. When NASA eliminated its funding for the competition, Northwest AEA offered to assume it and began inviting students to participate in it.

"We're trying to interest kids in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. And, we think a way to do that is to show kids what kind of things they can do in those kind of careers in the future," Christensen said.

Of the 24 students nominated by teachers to take part in the upcoming contest, eight SHS upperclassmen have been selected to participate. They include Andrew Upah, Craig Cunningham, Aaron Brockshus, Mary Krull, Sarah Dillard, Abby Bedore, Tyler Kramer and Nick Lewis. Rebecca Florke and Joel Glover are the two alternates selected.

These students will be accompanied by SHS teachers Elli Wiemers and David Munson during the March 5-9 trek.

Students from Anthon-Oto, Aurelia, Battle Creek-Ida Grove, Cherokee, Denison, Sioux City East, Galva-Holstein, Kingsley-Pierson, Le Mars, Le Mars Gehlen, Maple Valley, Newell-Fonda, Remsen-Union, River Valley, Sergeant Bluff-Luton, Sioux Center, Sioux Central, Storm Lake St. Mary's, Sioux City West, West Monona, Westwood and Woodbury Central in Iowa will also be represented at the competition, as will their peers from Dakota Valley in South Dakota and South Sioux City in Nebraska.

The Midwest delegation will be joined by 25 students from six Texas schools there.

Of the Iowa schools to be represented, the 2009 Space Settlement Design Competition will mark the first time for Newell-Fonda and Spencer students participating. According to Christensen, Spencer was invited to take part because of its utilization of the AEA's science material center, which recently began supplying the district with science products.

"We have a really good partnership with Spencer with these science materials," he said. " ... As I've worked with the people in Spencer, I've been impressed with, first, just how very professional they are. They're good people to work with. And, we had a space available on the trip, so I thought, 'Let's bring them in.'"

"We like to have a lot of different kids involved," he added. "A lot of our kids are from really small towns. In some cases, they know people from a lot of places. But in other cases, they don't. So the truth is, it's good for our kids.

"Partly, we like to have the cultural differences that some of those kids represent. We think that's real exciting to get the Texas kids down there. They just put some spice in the whole thing."

* While the Spencer school district will pay the $500 fee charged every public school participating in the upcoming contest, the Spencer Community School Foundation has agreed to cover the $305 tuition charged every local person who will take part in the activity.

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* "I'm interested in a career in engineering. And, I think this is going to be a really great opportunity for me to get to know what engineering will be like and to just get more prepared for college. Of course, it's going to be a lot of fun, too."

- Mary Krull, SHS junior

* "I think it's going to be a great opportunity for me because (students will be participating from) the state of Iowa and also (there will be) some from Texas. And, just getting to work with the people at NASA and (seeing) the bigger picture."

- Abby Bedore, SHS junior

* "I'm going to go to Iowa State University for mechanical engineering in the fall. This is an engineering trip, and I think it will be a great experience that will get me prepared for college."

- Tyler Kramer, SHS senior

* "This is really a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It will be great to explore new career opportunities, and it can help me make a better decision for my major in college."

- Aaron Brockshus, SHS senior

* "I applied because I really think this will be a great experience. I enjoy the engineering field, and I feel that this will be a great opportunity for me to get a feel for what it might be like if I end up going into an engineering field."

- Andrew Upah, SHS junior