Science is 11-year-old Cooper Rankin’s favorite subject.
“I find it interesting how you can do so much stuff. I think it’s cool that everything is made up of matter,” said Cooper, a sixth grade student at Roy A. Hunt Elementary School in the New Kensington-Arnold School District. “It’s really cool they’re taking students from our school to see a NASA program.”
Cooper and 15 of his peers were selected to attend the Beating the Odds Foundation’s annual Quarterbacks of Life/NASA Research Challenge, taking place May 6 at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
“Not a lot of kids get to do it,” said Sodi Pitts, 11. “I’ll remember it, the stuff we did.”
With teacher Robert Towarnicki, participating students meet twice a week after school to prepare for the trip.
They are studying NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space telescope, an infrared space telescope named after NASA’s former chief of astronomy.
The telescope is in development and scheduled to launch this year or next.
“During the day, we’re focused on academic content and helping students achieve growth,” Towarnicki said. “Here, we can take all of that learning and apply it from a different direction.”
On May 6, students will present their research, tour Goddard and learn from Dr. Charity Woodrum, a NASA postdoctoral fellow.
“This is an opportunity for these kids to show excellence beyond the scope of a classroom,” Towarnicki said. “It’s academic enrichment — it’s beyond the confines of traditional learning. We do a lot of teamwork and team-based research.”
The Building the Odds Foundtion is covering the costs for the day trip, with the district covering only transportation.
“We want our kids to experience things and get chances they’d never get to have,” said Hunt Principal Jeff Thimons.
Student Leo Dobies, 11, is looking forward to the trip.
“I think space is very interesting,” he said. “There might be life on other planets.”
Towarnicki believes the experience will be enriching to the students.
“I hope their takeaway is that hard work pays off,” he said. “If they work hard and apply themselves, they can achieve something.”
