Program Scope
We will offer about 2,500 students across four schools the opportunity to participate in a real scientific experiment competition. Two middle schools, Northeast Middle and Mendenhall Middle, that participated in STS-134, the last mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour, will be joined by Ferndale Middle and Johnson Street Global Studies for SSEP Mission 2 to the International Space Station.
We anticipate that at least 300 students will be fully engaged in experiment design and will submit at least 30 experiment proposals, which will be judged by our local review board. Additionally, we will hold a mission patch design competition in our participating schools. This will provide the opportunity for more students to be involved in the program and the chance for one of their designed emblems to fly into outer space along with our winning experiment.
SSEP Mission Participation
GCS participated in STS-134, the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour, with about 200 students in grades 6-8 engaged in experiment design and 22 flight experiment proposals submitted by student teams. The selected experiment, designed by a team of students from Mendenhall Middle, studied the effects of spaceflight on the growth and development of brine shrimp. The experiment passed NASA flight safety review and flew on Endeavour.
Partner Institutions
Guilford County Schools
North Carolina Space Grant
The Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro
Ellison Family Foundation
Enrichment Fund for the Guilford County Schools
SSEP Community Program Co-Directors
Shirley Stipe-Zendle
Student Services Administrator, Guilford County Schools
stipezs@gcsnc.com
Dr. Darcy Kemp
Executive Director, Guilford County Schools
Local Team Members
Lenny Sue French
Science Teacher
Mendenhall Middle School
Cassandra Flemming
Science Teacher
Ferndale Middle School
Robin Marrs
Science Teacher
Northeast Middle School
Alison Manka
Science Teacher
Johnson Street Global Studies
Community Blog Administrator
Laurie Hogan
Program Administrator-Communications, Guilford County Schools
hoganl@gcsnc.com
