The sky’s not the limit

Kids these days! While many young people are lolling about enjoying their freedom from school, three students from Nanaimo District Secondary School are starting their summer off by following up on their science experiment. Of course, they had to fly to Florida to do it. Megan Poteryko, Abigail Sitler and Parker Davie were at the Kennedy Space Center Friday where they witnessed the launch of a spacecraft carrying their experiment to the International Space Station. They injected flatworms with a drug used to treat muscular dystrophy to see if it can minimize the negative effects to the human body of living in zero gravity.

They are participating in the Student Spaceflights Experiment Program, which provides students from the upper elementary grades through university the opportunity to conduct experiments in low Earth orbit. When the experiment is completed, the students will share their findings at a conference at the Smithsonian Institute.

Our education system often is criticized for not preparing students to function in the real world, and it’s common to hear calls for a return to basics. Without doubt, students need a strong foundation in math and literacy. Beyond that, they need opportunities to see what they can do and how far they can go.

When that happens, as the Nanaimo students have shown, not even the sky is the limit.