Staff Writer
WASHBURN – Zachary Davis is going to outer space … sort of.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
HEADING TO SPACE ACADEMY next summer are Washburn District Elementary School eighth-graders, from left: Zachary Davis, Angelita Hernandez, and Mason Turner. The three students were the winners of an essay-writing contest sponsored by Filomena “Mena” Irving, a science/health/sexual education teacher for grades 6-8 at the school, who attended the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy in Huntsville, Ala. this summer. The three students will attend a summer program at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville next June.
Davis, an eighth-grader at Washburn District Elementary School, was awarded first place in an essay writing contest to determine which student would receive a Space Academy student scholarship to attend a summer program at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala.
Earlier this summer, Filomena “Mena” Irving, a science/health/sexual education teacher for grades 6-8 at Washburn District Elementary School, attended the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy in Huntsville. While there, she was awarded a “Right Stuff” scholarship awarded for outstanding leadership. As part of the honor, Irving was entitled to present one student scholarship to a student in her class and Honeywell will cover the travel costs for the student to attend the summer program.
To make the selection process fair, Irving asked any of her eighth-graders who were interested to write a 500-word essay explaining why they should be selected to attend Space Camp.
A panel of judges, which included Ricky Bragg, Jackie Pribble, Louise Cole, April Flagg, Rick Landeen and Daryl Molton, reviewed the seven essays received and deemed Davis’ writing as the top pick.
In his essay, Davis said he has always been interested in science and technology.
“From Pre-kindergarten to second grade, I wanted to be an astronaut. Now, even though I have different career goals, I still am very interested in aerospace,” wrote Davis. “When I grow up, I would like to go into one of two engineering fields: either mechanical or aeronautical.
“Going to space camp and being given the experience to learn and explore aeronautics could greatly influence my choice of career. I have also been quite interested in robotics and rocketry for the past few years,” Davis wrote. “My science fair project last spring involved the use and construction of a robot that navigated a course. If I could go on this trip, it would allow me to have a better understanding of these things.”
Noting that he has good teamwork skills, is willing to try new things and overcome fears, and is a hard worker, Davis said the experience would be one he would “remember for the rest of my life.”
“I am already excited about this opportunity, and if I am selected, it will be a long wait until the summer of 2008. I hope you will consider choosing me to represent Washburn District Elementary School at Space Academy 2008 in Huntsville, Ala.,” Davis wrote. “After all, with all the advances being made in the world of science, the first person to set foot on Mars could be from my generation.”
While Honeywell has awarded one student scholarship for Irving to present, she wants three kids to be able to go to Space Academy.
“We are going to raise half the money for two more students and Honeywell will pay the other half,” she said. “We’re looking to raise $1,000 for each child, or $2,000.”
The other two students going – Angelita Hernandez and Mason Turner – were also selected based on the judges’ opinions of their essays.
In her second-place essay, Hernandez said she loves to stargaze at night and look for satellites.
“I can recognize the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Venus and the Northern Lights. I have also seen the Lunar Eclipse. My Dad and I always try to view meteor showers. I find them breathtaking,” she wrote. “When I go camping with my family, we leave the tent tarp off so we can see the stars all night. Recently, my Dad and I saw the Space Shuttle, which was docked on the MIR Space Station, as it traveled through the night sky. It was awesome.
“It would mean the world to me to attend this Space Camp! Learning about astronauts, outer space, and meeting scientists would be an incredible opportunity for me,” wrote Hernandez. “What an incredible adventure it would be.”
Turner, the third-place essayist, said Space Camp would be interesting “because of satellites and their role in agriculture.”
“Locally, satellites have been used to help farmers in a couple of different ways. First, GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) can run machinery by satellites,” wrote Turner, who wants to be a farmer. “The satellites run the machinery by driving the tractor straight for you and then you have a straight row. Straight rows mean more plants in a field, which means more money for the farmer.
“My father, who is a farmer, used GPS for variable rate nutrient application. This is a process of taking accurate soil samples to determine where the nutrients should go in a field. This nutrient information is sent through a computer to a GPS system to a spreader (a machine that spreads nutrients) and the variable rates of nutrients are put on the field,” Turner wrote. “It was tried locally about 10 years ago, but did not work well enough to keep using it because of the location, so maybe new technology would make it more successful. Maybe at Space Camp I could learn more about why it didn’t work and how we could make it work in the future.”
The alternate for the Space Academy is Kelsey Churchill, who said Space Camp would “help me to learn more about math, science, and technology.”
“I would also get to be part of teamwork activities, scenario based missions, rocket building, and many more exciting activities that I think would be fun to experience,” Churchill wrote. “It would be really interesting to see what an astronaut goes through, from what they eat to their missions. You never know, Space Camp might actually change my career path. If Space Camp becomes highly interesting to me, I could grow up to be an astronaut.”
Irving said she was pleased with the seven essays that were submitted, noting that the selected students would be flying to Alabama next summer without her or a parent accompanying them.
“It’s quite an endeavor for these kids,” she said, “and some parents were skeptical about sending their child and that’s understandable; however, the students chosen will represent our school absolutely beautifully and they’re great ambassadors for this community.
“The seven who submitted essays did exceedingly well,” said Irving. “Each and every one of them would have been a great ambassador for our school. They spoke from the heart, they had a very creative approach, and no two essays were alike.”
To help raise the needed money to send Hernandez and Turner to Space Academy, Irving said fund-raisers will be held.
“We’ll be starting the fund-raisers in November,” said Irving. “We’ll be having a Space Day that will be open to the community and we’ll have a booth to raise funds. We haven’t decided what we’re going to sell yet, but we’ll be doing something.
“We’re going to have “Out of This World” carwashes, bake sales, and concessions during games,” she said. “The entire class will be helping to raise funds.”
Irving said she is also working on some grant proposals with the hope of taking all of her eighth-grade students to the Challenger Learning Center in Bangor, so they can all have the opportunity to go through space and flight simulation.
