Students Bring Home Championship at State Astronaut Challenge

8^th grader Hannah Hosay quickly expressed interest and rallied a team together to accept the “Challenge.” Hannah with fellow teammates, Cyndi Amidon (8th grade), Connor Coughlin (8th grade), Emilia Minton (7th grade), and Hadley Frankland (7th grade) spent the next week studying a 200-page Astronaut Challenge Manual and then, each took a 100-item test related to that material. Their team score was the second highest of the five schools taking the test, and qualified them for the upcoming challenge to be held in February at Kennedy Space Center.

 

According to the Astronaut Challenge website, the competition's mission is "to foster interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This contest promotes creativity, teamwork, the understanding and application of STEM subjects, and the sharing of ideas." Available only to high school teams in the past, this was the inaugural year for middle school teams, and we were proud to be one of the first middle school teams to qualify!

 

In early November, Ms. Stevenson and Ms. Jung attended a 2-day conference for coaches, and the team began to train for the state competition. Learning that the team could have six members, the coaches had students apply and compete for the last spot. 8th grader Evan Taylor became that ‘last man’. Paul Fitzgerald and Victor Carrasquilla, members of the HCES Technology department, assembled the flight simulator and practices began. The team met when they could between other activities, sports, and school. They gathered on weekends, after school, during lunches and anytime they could to review material, train, and study for the challenge that lay ahead.

 

The State Competition would include four scored events over three days: a space flight engineering challenge; creating a proposal for an International Space Station experiment; landing a shuttle in a simulator; and (coolest of all!) a space shuttle flight simulator performance.

Dr. Munir Humayun, a professor of geochemistry on staff at the MagLab, attended a practice and worked with the students on their proposal for the Space Station experiment. He taught the team the physics behind gathering water from asteroids, which aided in that portion of their State Challenge.

After months of training, the team was finally ready. The students were beaming with confidence as they headed to Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, February 21^st. The challenges began Monday morning and continued through Wednesday. The team was up against 20 other middle school teams as they began their challenges. They made the simulation semifinals and, on Tuesday night, learned that they made it to the finals—they were in the top 3! However, the competition did not come without trials. During the intentionally difficult final event all three schools made errors. Emotions ran high, yet the team rallied, finished the challenge and overcame adversity.

 

As they all gathered for the final awards ceremony and the announcement of winners, the coaches, the team and the parents were all hopeful for the final results. The individual awards were announced first. The Holy Comforter team place second in the simulation challenge, as well as the engineering challenge. Time to learn who earned the Overall Award (total points). Through their consistency and hard work, they were thrilled when their name was announced as the overall champion of the Middle School State Astronaut Challenge! The other middle school teams offered great support, giving a standing ovation as our team was awarded the 1st place trophy. What a wonderful display of sportsmanship!

 

As they traveled back last Wednesday evening, coaches and students were beaming after such a victory! Our entire school community is so proud of the team’s efforts as well as the leadership from two incredible coaches. If you have a chance to see these middle school students or Ms. Jung and Ms. Stevenson, congratulate them on a job well done!

As part of their championship, the team and coaches are invited back to Kennedy Space Center for a behind-the-scenes tour. 

 

“We are grateful for Paul’s help at the simulation practices. Without it, we may not have had the same outcome.”   -Pat and Kaylyn

 

“It was probably one of the most exciting experiences that I’ve had at Holy Comforter.”  -Cyndi Amidon

"Through this competition, I have learned the amount of work and dedication that goes into becoming an astronaut, or an professional on the STEM field, and it was truly an exciting and unforgettable experience!" - Hannah Hosay