A group of Northport middle school students will be heading to the Kennedy Space Center in Naples, Florida in August after being selected as one of the winning teams in NASA’s 2024 Artemis ROADS II National Challenge.
The Northport Board of Education approved the trip Monday evening at its regular board meeting, where Karen Trolenberg, Northport’s NASA Artemis Club advisor, presented to board members what the journey would entail for the five students confirmed to go to the space center from August 12-16. All expenses for the trip, including airfare, lodging, transportation, and meals, are covered by the program. Over the course of the week, students will have a full itinerary filled with learning from experts in the field at NASA’s primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology.
“I think it’s a tremendous opportunity even starting back with the club in general. There were certainly no expectations of actually earning this trip, but they have lots of opportunities to explore some unique science ideas that NASA presented them,” said Northport Superintendent Neil Wetherbee. “Karen did a really nice job of picking a diverse group of students… but it’s a wide range of ages and interests and I think it’s going to be an opportunity for a group of our students to see something they never had the chance to see before.”
