Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
Three Local Schools Ready for a Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity, Thanks To UCDSB’s Real World Learning Support.
Students at Pakenham P.S., Naismith Memorial School, and R.Tait McKenzie P.S. are about to embark on some out-of-this-world learning! Grade 5 and 6 students will be taking part in Mission 21 of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP)—a competition where one student-designed experiment will be selected to travel to the International Space Station (ISS). An astronaut aboard the ISS will carry out the winning team’s experiment in orbit.
The competition begins with Phase One, where local community scientists will review and judge all experiment proposals. From there, the top three proposals will advance to Phase Two, where SSEP scientists will make the final selection. Ultimately, one experiment from our Mississippi Mills community will be chosen for launch to space.
But that’s not all! Students from Kindergarten to Grade 6 across all three schools will also take part in the Mission 21 Flight Patch Art Competition. Two designs will be chosen by a local artist committee to accompany the mission. A special requirement of the patch design is to include the colour green—a meaningful tribute to Archer Lowe, a R. Tait McKenzie student whose favourite colour was green. This heartfelt detail ensures Archer’s spirit is included in the mission.
Stay tuned for more updates—to be written by students from one of our three UCDSB schools—as we continue to follow this extraordinary journey into space!
Submitted by Laura Costello
