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PRESS RELEASES |
| May 18, 2010 - VCA Inc, Contest Winners Hosted at Challenger Learning Center New Mexico |
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VCA Inc, Contest Winners Hosted at Challenger Learning Center New Mexico
Contact Name: Diane Uczekaj, Business Development Manager
Day Phone: 505-248-1776
Mobile Phone: 505-314-3065 |
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CHALLENGER LEARNING CENTER NEW MEXICO HOSTS WINNERS OF PETS IN SPACE CONTEST, ASTRONAUT HARRISON SCHMITT, GUEST SPEAKER
Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, May 18, 2010—Challenger Learning Center New Mexico is proud to host an entire morning devoted to students from Adobe Acres 4th and 5th grade gifted program as winners of the VCA Pets in Space essay contest. Students and their teachers, Elyse Sedillo and Faith Forsythe, will be treated to a catered breakfast, at which native New Mexican and Lunar Module Pilot Astronaut Harrison Schmitt will be the keynote guest speaker. Dr. Schmitt is the second-to-last man to stand on the moon's surface during the Apollo 17 mission, NASA's last lunar module mission.
Students will then participate in a simulated space shuttle mission, Rendezvous With A Comet, one of several programs provided by the Challenger Learning Center New Mexico. During their 2.5 hour mission, the Adobe Acres students, as astronauts and scientists, will conduct experiments and gather data as is done by astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), and will receive guidance from their team counterparts in Mission Control. The main goal of their mission is to gather cometary particles. Once the mission is accomplished, students will have the pleasure of enjoying donated Dion's pizza at Jerry's Garage, the dining area of the Unser Racing Museum.
VCA, after learning of the newly opened Challenger Learning Center New Mexico, decided to sponsor an essay contest and award through donation five complete 2.5 hour missions, a value of $2,500. VCA's purpose? To contribute to community welfare above and beyond their commitment to animal health, to support directly the community of Los Ranchos, where the CLCNM is located, and to instill a love of science in community youth. Five classrooms from around the Albuquerque area were selected: Grand Prize winners are Adobe Acres fourth and fifth graders taught by Elyse Sedillo and Faith Forsythe. Other winners of sponsored, donated missions are Laura Lirette, Hubert Humphrey Elementary; Laurie Gilbert and Carol Markham, Menaul School; Susan Bane, La Academia de Esperanza; and Kim Berlat of Cottonwood Valley Charter School.
Challenger Learning Center New Mexico is a non-profit educational organization, one of over 50 of the Challenger Learning Centers around the world. It provides interactive educational space simulations for students in grades 5-12 called Rendezvous With A Comet. During a simulation, students use critical thinking, problem solving, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and other skills they have obtained in school to successfully rendezvous with Comet Encke and gather comet particles. This simulation shows students that the topics they are studying have real-life applications and are stepping stones to rewarding and exciting careers. The comet simulation curriculum is carefully aligned with both New Mexico State and National curricular standards. Students leave a mission with a feeling of achievement and success, and a more purposeful view of what they are learning in school. Our Micronaut Program has been specifically created for students in grades K-4. Traveling 230 miles above the Earth, the Discovery crew continues the mission of the largest scientific cooperative program in history. The students take on the roles of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians engaged in a unique research using a variety of hands-on experiments to learn more about the planet Earth. |
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