In The ZONA Where Good Kids Can Be Famous Too
A group of five seventh grade students from Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral School competed in the 2015 Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge presented by American Airlines. Their hard work and dedication to their lunar base project resulted in a first place finish! The prize for winning the competition was a VIP trip sponsored by Honeywell to accept their award at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas!
Q. What project did you do for the Honeywell Aerospace Challenge?
Abby: We created a lunar base and the whole idea was to mine Helium-3, which is an alternate power source for the earth because it’s clean and doesn’t have a lot of waste.
Joey: Then we would send it back to earth in the dragon capsules where it would be put through a nuclear fusion reactor.
Abby: You have to have people up on the lunar base to run the machines, so we would need to keep them alive. We had to deal with the difficulty of getting food, air, and fresh water to the moon.
Q.What brought you guys together?
Abby: For Joey, Tessa, and I we all did it last year with two other 8th graders and we wanted to do it again this year.
Annie: We were all friends outside of this aerospace group, so it was easy for us to come together to do this.
Q. What made you choose to do the Aerospace Challenge?
Annie: I thought it was a really cool project, and I am really glad I did it because it was a great experience.
Emily: I thought it would be fun and would be a great way to learn how to bond as a team and get closer to my classmates.
Tessa: I have always been interested in astronomy and spacey type things.
Joey: I chose to do Aerospace because I am really interested in the sciences and when I saw a previous team from school win, I thought – I want to do that too!
Q. What learning did you take away from doing the project together?
Emily: I learned a lot about teamwork, that other people will be there for you if you need help.
Joey: I learned how to use our school’s 3D printer. It was amazing using it and downloading all of the software for it.
Tessa: That teamwork was really important. You have to be able to take turns and listen to each other and share ideas.
Q. On a side note, what do you like to do for fun?
Abby: I play volleyball! I also like to do volunteer work with St. Vincent DePaul.
Joey: I really like to read. I also enjoy being active with my Boy Scouts troop.
Emily: I like to read and do flips!
Annie: I like to play school sports, like volleyball and softball.
Tessa: I enjoy hanging out with my friends and cheerleading.
