STEAM Middle School eighth-grade students, under the guidance of Mrs. Pereda, have achieved national recognition by emerging as one of the 60 winning teams in NASA's prestigious TechRise Challenge. This nationwide contest, administered by Future Engineers, aims to attract, engage, and prepare the next generation of professionals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

The team, comprised of Miyauna Bryant, Henry Bowes, Thomas Chatman, Olivia Ramspott, and Garek Bonkowski, will receive a $1,500 grant to further develop their experiments. What sets them apart is the unique opportunity to showcase their work on a NASA-sponsored Rocket-Powered Lander flight test. During this test, their experiments will be taken to an altitude of 80 feet over a test field designed to mimic the moon's surface.

NASA will support students by assigning engineering mentors to assist in the construction of their experiment. The focal point of their project is to investigate the vibrations of a rocket during ascent and the resulting temperature changes.

For their project, the team hopes to gather data that can be used to design sensors capable of warning astronauts of risks and deploying safety measures during lunar missions or re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.