Gilmer County High School’s STEAM Team wins NASA contest with ‘out of this world’ project

GLENVILLE, W.Va. (WBOY) — Gilmer County High School’s STEAM Team is one of 60 high schools nationally and the only one in West Virginia to win the NASA Techrise Student Challenge.

Gilmer County High School’s STEAM team is made up of eight students in 7th and 8th grade who were assembled by math and science teachers, Kelly Barr, Ashley Barker and Avan McHenry.

Students created a blueprint for the ‘high-altitude balloon’ challenge, one of the options in NASA’s Techrise Student Challenge , winning $1,500 to physically create their project.

Currently, this STEAM team is creating a box attached to a balloon that contains sensors to collect data from the earth’s atmosphere and ozone as it travels into space. As if that doesn’t sound complicated enough, the team’s win means so much more to the school, as this is its first team.

12 News spoke with Kelly Barr, Gilmer County High School math and computer science teacher, on the student’s initial reaction to being selected for the STEAM team.

“When we told them they were selected for this we had a student say, ‘I’m not smart enough to do that, you must be kidding,’ and he’s so into this. This has opened up a lot of doors for a lot of these kids. I think they have talents they didn’t realize,” said Barr.

Students were drawn to the project to challenge themselves and for the possibility of future opportunities. When asked by 12 News, the majority of students said their favorite part of the project is soldering.

Once the project is completed, the STEAM Team will send the box to NASA, which will launch Gilmer County High School’s balloon, alongside balloons from the 59 other winners, into space and send back the data collected from the project to see the results.

When 12 News asked STEAM Team students what advice they would give to any other students who may be second guessing their capabilities, 8th grader Adlai Chapman gave a more than fitting response:

“Try to, you know, aim for the stars and at least you’ll hit the moon.”

This experience has opened a world of possibilities for steam team students, creating a new mindset for all that is possible in the future.

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