FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOUR DIOCESAN SCHOOLS ENTER “THE SPACE RACE”
406 Catholic School students begin 9-week S.T.E.M. program to develop microgravity experiments – one of which will reach the International Space Station next fall
KALAMAZOO, Mich., (March 5, 2014): -- “We have liftoff!”
That’s the group-cheer circulating among students, teachers and administrators at four schools within the Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo, this month, as these schools begin a nine-week curriculum offered by the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) – a nationally recognized initiative which allows students to develop a host of microgravity experiments, one of which will be activated by astronauts on the Mission 6 Spaceflight to the International Space Station in the fall of 2014.
406 students in grades 5 through 8 from St. Monica Catholic School and St. Augustine Cathedral School (Kalamazoo), St. Joseph Middle School (Battle Creek), and St. Stanislaus Catholic School (Dorr) will don their lab coats and delve into SSEP, which is part of the nation’s progressive Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Science (STEM) Program, a unique educational curriculum that provides children in grades 5 through college with state-of-the-art learning opportunities, while exposing them to career options they might never uncover in the traditional classroom.
“SSEP is designed to empower the student as scientist,” says Dr. Jeff Goldstein, national program director of SSEP and director of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE), headquartered in Ellicott City, Md. “SSEP introduces real science to our children, and if you give them a chance to be scientists, stand back and be amazed.”
Joining forces with SSEP is a “once-in-a-lifetime experience” for diocesan students, says Margaret Erich, superintendent of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo, which encompasses 24 schools ranging from preschool through grade 12. “This project will give students the opportunity to put their classroom learning into real-life applications.”
The project was spear-headed by Becky Reits, principal of St. Monica Catholic School, and Katie Gilbert, advancement director for the Catholic Schools of Greater Kalamazoo (CSGK), which oversees two of the four participating schools: St. Monica and St. Augustine.
In a prepared statement, Andra Zommers, principal of St. Augustine, Shannon Murphy, principal of St. Stanislaus, and Marcy Arnson, principal of St. Joseph, said: “We are especially grateful for the leadership of Becky Reits, in writing the SSEP proposal, and Katie Gilbert, in securing the necessary funding, to make this project a reality.”
Gilbert calls the SSEP project a gateway to the future. “Our diocesan schools are committed to advancing our instructional approaches in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and math, in order to produce highly-competent, intrinsically-motivated innovators and leaders for the future,” she says.
STEM programs, such as SSEP, are critical because STEM schools are being credited nationwide for creating the workforce of the future. A recent report written by Jonathan Rothwell for the Brookings Institution – the nation’s premier economic think-tank – says that workers in STEM fields are playing “a direct role in driving economic growth.”
The Department of Commerce reports that jobs in STEM fields have grown three times as fast as jobs in non-STEM fields. Nevertheless, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology warn that the U.S. must produce 1 million more STEM-degree graduates over the next decade to meet the demands of our high-tech economy. Bridging this gap means many more schools are focusing on getting students hooked on math and science earlier in their school careers, and many more STEM and STEM-related programs are being launched in classrooms nationwide.
In STEM programs, such as SSEP, learning is collaborative and project-based; kids work closely together in a hands-on way to solve real-world problems. While all schools teach math and science, STEM schools and STEM coursework focus deeply on these subjects – thereby actively preparing students for the high-tech jobs of the future.
The Diocesan schools partnership is one of 19 similar educational partnerships nationwide involved in this commercial venture. The spring project will also include students from schools in California, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Students from each educational partnership will submit a number of proposals, with one experiment from each partnership finally making it into orbit.
“At the end of nine weeks, diocesan children will have developed 75-80 experiments and research proposals,” says Reits. “They can choose from a wide range of experimental fields, including seed germination, crystal growth, physiology, life cycles of microorganisms, cell biology and growth, food studies and micro-aquatic life.”
In late April, diocesan students will submit their proposals and all projects will be reviewed by a team of nationally recognized scientists, engineers and educators. Three projects from the diocesan group will be selected as semi-finalists; and one will finally be chosen for use in space. The winning project will undergo a formal NASA flight safety review at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, as well as further refinements, before it will be added to the “payload” headed for the International Space Station next fall.
SSEP is a commercial project. Each partnership had to raise $21,500 to participate. Advancement director Gilbert said the project garnered donor enthusiasm from the get-go, and the project met its price tag through the generous support of the Hall Technology Initiative, the Havirmill Foundation, the Kalamazoo Regional Catholic Schools Foundation (KRCSF) and other local foundation partners.
Giving to the SSEP project was a win-win proposition, says Rich Migala, president of the Kalamazoo Regional Catholic Schools Foundation.
“To have our Catholic school students involved in the space program at this age will reap huge rewards,” Migala says. “Every student we can expose to space exploration and science will hopefully pique their interest into becoming a future astronaut, explorer or space engineer.”
Migala says it’s particularly gratifying that “this program benefits our young female students. Engineering and science programs that can attract young women open the door for them to explore new and unfamiliar career options. This program is exciting, engaging, and especially challenging.”
Migala hopes that in future years, “this program could be expanded to the high school level, as well.”
The SSEP project won’t just mean lab-work. Participating schools will conduct a “Mission Patch Design Contest,” inviting parents, students, teachers and parishioners to design a logo and patch that will advertise the school’s involvement, and be stitched to the lab coats of the team whose project will be headed into orbit.
Participating students will also be invited to attend an annual SSEP National Conference in Washington, D.C.
A local “launch party” is being planned for the conclusion of the project in April, and some participants are already dreaming of driving to Wallops Island, Virginia or Cocoa Beach, Florida to witness the payload being transferred to space.
“How amazing it will be to have a project chosen to travel to the Space Station,” Migala concludes. “When that happens, hopefully we can arrange a group to attend the launch.”
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a national science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) program, undertaken by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE). This on-orbit educational research opportunity is enabled through NanoRacks, LLC, which is working in partnership with NASA under a formal Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.
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For further information, log onto these websites:
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (http://ssep.ncesse.org)
The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (http://ncesse.org)
NanoRacks, LLC (http://www.nanoracks.com)
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Program (www.stemedcoalition.org)
Great Schools (http://www.greatschools.org/school-choice/stem/6976-what-is-stem-school.gs)