KPMS students can influence future space program

Staff Report

Photo by Hugh McMillan, KP News

Astronaut Nicholas Patrick captivated the audience at Key Peninsula Middle School with a slide show of him performing duties in outer space.

KPMS has partnered with NASA as a NASA Explorer School and offers science, technology, engineering and math focused elective courses for students.

The goal is to increase student achievement through the incorporation of aeronautics and space exploration, said Kareen Borders, science teacher at KPMS.

The program is funded entirely by outside sources. Companies such as AMGEN Corporation and Starbucks support the costs of the NASA program, which includes travel to space centers.

During the event in April, Patrick emphasized that students sitting in the audience could be the next great astronauts and scientists to make discoveries and invent new technologies that will be used in the future for the NASA space program.