News & Media - Press Releases

April 2, 2006

HAMILTON SIXTH AND EIGHTH GRADERS WIN NATIONAL COMPETITION AT ANNUAL SPACE DAY EVENT

Five science teams from Hamilton Middle School were selected as part of the 21 winning teams in the Lockheed Martin Corporation’s 2006 Space Day National Design Challenges competition and will be honored at the national celebration on May 4, 2006 at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Teams submitted projects that reflected this year’s theme, “Living and Working on the Moon,” and were judged on creativity, design and overall excellence.

Led by Hamilton’s science department chair Mary Patterson, the Grabber Girls (Ashley Linton, Madison Judd and Taylor Reynolds) won Most Creative in the Galactic Gear challenge for their design The Super Grabber; and the C.S.I. team (Taylor McNair and Catherine Arcaro) won Best Overall in the Galactic Gear challenge for their Super Stars design.

“I'm so proud of the efforts of these students. It is a teacher’s dream to see a tiny spark ignite excitement and enthusiasm in students. Each of the teams exemplified the qualities of the Cy-Fair Portrait of a Graduate by spending countless hours doing research, working cooperatively and producing a product,” Patterson said. “Receiving national recognition for their work is simply out of this world!”

The ZG2 Zero Gravity Girls (sixth graders Abby Miranda and Jordan Francisco), led by science teacher Christine Pinell, won Most Creative in the X-Treme Fitness challenge. In the eighth-grade division, The Space Scouts (Grant Hodel, Ross Sheppard, Andrew Fisher, and Kyle Plank), led by Nicole Domingues, won Best Overall and Best Design in the Extreme Explorer challenge; and The Juggernauts (Eric Chin, Andrew Sharp, and Riley Sheehan), also led by Domingues, won Best Overall in the Space Trek challenge.

This year makes the third consecutive year that Hamilton produces National winners in the Space Day competition.

“I am very proud of the accomplishments of these teachers and students. All five of these teams, under the direction of their dedicated teachers, have demonstrated excellence in creativity and problem-solving,” said Maria Mamaux, Hamilton’s director of instruction.

Space Day is a year-long effort with a goal of advancing science, math and technology education.

“As the Baby Boomer generation retires, the demand for young scientists and engineers is expected to increase at almost four times the rate of all other occupations. In 10 years there will be a major work force gap in technical industries if we do not strengthen the interest today’s young people have in math, science, technology and engineering. The Design Challenges are a vehicle to achieve that goal,” said Bob Stevens, President and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation.

For additional information about Space Day, visit the following website: www.spaceday.org.

The Grabber Girls won Most Creative in the Galactic Gear challenge for their design The Super Grabber.

The Juggernauts won Best Overall in the Space Trek challenge.

C.S.I. won Best Overall in the Galactic Gear challenge for their Super Stars design.

The Space Scouts won Best Overall and Best Design in the Extreme Explorer challenge.

ZG2 Zero Gravity Girls won Most Creative in the X-Treme Fitness challenge.

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