5 th grade TAG student does Passion Compassion program at Challenger Learning Center

Kendall Lucero is not your typical 5th grader. Listed among her interests and activities are soccer, snowboarding and reading. Kendall was given the opportunity to pursue and research any one of her passions. She chose her first passion: space.

Kendall says that she has been interested in space since 3rd grade. Her very first project was in 3rd grade. Her project was a team effort with another student involving researching black holes and presenting their findings to the school. This sparked her interest in space. She is excited to be continuing her interest in space in a 5th grade TAG project, passion compassion.

Kendall attends Mountain View Elementary and participates in the TAG program. One of the units is on Passion Compassion. Students are to choose something they are passionate about, research it and do 10 hours of community service applying their passion. Because Kendall is doing her research on space she is volunteering at the Challenger Learning Center of Colorado.

The Challenger Learning Center of Colorado has activities and missions for student's kindergarten through 12 th grade. Kendall helped with a first grade class as they explored the solar system using the center's mission control computers. Kendall says the best part of volunteering was helping the younger students. When asked if the experience has helped her understand space and focus on any one area better, she quickly replied 'Yes. Space exploration, flights, other planets and stars in our solar system'. She likes mission control and being able to help others.

The Challenger Learning Center of Colorado (CLCC), one of 51 Challenger Learning Centers in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. and the first in an eight-state radius, is a space-based learning environment where schoolchildren, families, senior citizens, corporate teams and other community members fly simulated space missions. The CLCC features a Mission Control Center modeled after the one at Johnson Space Center and an International Space Station simulator where experiments are performed and probes are "launched" into the depths of outer space. The CLCC currently offers three on-site mission simulations: Rendezvous with a Comet,Voyage to Mars and Return to the Moon. The three distance-delivered simulations (e-Mission) are Moon, Mars & Beyond (3-5 grade), Operation Montserrat (6-8 grade) and Space Station Alpha (9-12 grade). Younger "astronauts" have a blast during hands-on adventures designed for K - 3 students.

The Challenger Learning Center of Colorado also offers summer enrichment programs for ages 6 - 18. Please contact the center for more information. 719-598-9755.