Thursday, August 30, 2012

Valley Center High School is one step closer to sending a student project to the International Space Station (ISS), but they need to raise $20,000 by Sept. 12.

"If you could do one thing with your money that would make a difference in our future, it would be giving to a program such as this," said Jeff Tracy, science teacher.

Valley Center is one of 24 communities in the U.S. and internationally to be a finalist in the "Student Spaceflight Experiment Program."

The program launched in June 2010 and is the first pre-college Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education immersion program.

Participating communities will send a single microgravity experiment to the ISS in April 2013. The experiment design competition is from Sept. 17 to Nov. 9.

"Very few communities across the nation would have this opportunity. The fact that we have the possibility to doing it, it's just a great chance to push us even further than we would in class," said Tyler Pohlanz, high school senior.

Only communities that raise $20,000 in commitments by the deadline will be eligible to participate in the program.

To find out more information on how you can help, click here.

For more information on Mission 3 to the ISS, click here.