Send PSA Mission Design Students to Competition

I am not an employee of Palmetto Scholars Academy nor a parent of a child in this class. I am just a parent with children at this school who sees the value in having high-quality STEM programs available to children in our area. All funds will be donated to the individual students to help offset the costs of this competition trip.

The Palmetto Scholars Academy Mission Design class has 24 students ranging from sophomores to seniors. They are hoping to raise enough money to attend the inSPIRESS competition in early December at the University of Alabama-Huntsville to present their engineering mission designs in the competition. PSA Mission Design teams have been competing in this competition for six years and have brought home trophies every single year. PSA students travel the greatest distance to compete, and the program has exploded in growth at the school, so the costs have risen.

Because it's no longer just a handful of kids competing, the (public) charter school board requires that the team use commercial motorcoaches for transportation (understandable), which is approximately $7500. Additional costs for hotels and food are another $7000 for the students and chaperones. Unfortunately, as a charter school with limited funding compared to other public school districts, the school does not have the funds to support this competition, which means the students would be presenting virtually. Presenting virtually via Zoom or Google Meet would put them at a distinct disadvantage compared to all other teams presenting in person. Additional opportunities such as a college tour, networking with college students and professors, and meeting and talking with NASA scientists will be off the table if this trip doesn't happen.

Students in the Mission Design program at PSA get a chance to see what "real world" engineering is like by creating a design for the NASA Europa program. PSA has three teams ready to compete with high-level, creative solutions for NASA's challenge. In the past, PSA's award-winning designs have been utilized in actual NASA missions! These are the best and brightest students at Palmetto Scholars Academy, which is a public charter school focused on gifted and talented education.

Other fundraising: The students have so far raised about $1000. Additionally, the school's parent group has pledged $2500. Approximately 26% of PSA students are considered low income.

More about the inSPIRESS program:

inSPIRESS mission and vision! The Innovative System Project for the Increased Recruitment of Emerging STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Students (InSPIRESS) is an outreach project that provides the opportunity for high school students to develop and design a scientific payload to be accommodated on a spacecraft which is designed by undergraduate students in the UAH IPT project. High school students collaborate with the undergraduate engineering students to understand the engineering requirements, the design process, and the role a customer plays in design. InSPIRESS teams compete for selection by the undergraduate engineering teams. InSPIRESS is a STEM outreach program based at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) #uah #uahinspiress #inspiress #uahengineering #engineeringclass #space #moon