The U.S. Department of Education has announced that Anderson Clark Magnet High School in La Crescenta is one of five finalists in CTE Mission: CubeSat, a national challenge to students to build technical skills for careers in space and beyond.
The department issued the challenge to inspire students and help high schools explore approaches that infuse more science, technology, engineering and math in career and technical education, or CTE. From August to October, high schools across the country created mission proposals for CubeSat (cube satellite) projects. CTE teachers led teams from 22 states as they developed missions for studying topics important to their own communities, as well as broader space exploration.
Anderson Clark Magnet is studying whether local encampments are in high-risk wildfire areas, with the goal of helping the local fire department save lives of people without housing.
The other finalists are schools in New York, North Carolina, Alabama and New Jersey. Finalists will each receive $5,000 and in-kind prizes that they may use to build CubeSat prototypes in the second phase of the challenge. During Phase 2, which runs from January to May 2021, the finalists will have access to expert mentorship and additional virtual resources as they build CubeSat prototypes and plan flight events to launch their prototypes. The department understands that due to current conditions, schools will need flexibility to safely collaborate when building and launching prototypes.
The challenge encourages interested students and teachers everywhere to start their own CubeSat projects by using the challenge resource hub. The hub offers access to curated educational resources, including virtual sessions with experts from academia, government and industry.
To learn more about CTE Mission: CubeSat, visit ctemissioncubesat.com.
