CCS Wins the 2009 Honeywell
Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge

September - January 4th, 2009

Four determined and dynamic Challenge Charter School 6th graders proved that they were UP TO THE CHALLENGE being named the 2009 Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge Champions!

As the first place winners, the team has won a VIP trip to the Johnson Space center in Houston and their accomplishment was recognized during an on field appearance at the 39th annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The CCS Team, who named themselves “NASA’s Newest”, includes Joleen Shiroma, William Beech, Elijah Cox, and Jacob Garza. Team coaches were Miss Meghan Sheehan and Mr. Jeff Whitfill. Their team motto: “Last time the eagle was just a guest. Now it’s back to build its nest.”

This was the first time Challenge Charter School has entered a team and the competition was “out of this world!” Over 1,000 students/232 teams gathered at ASU West in early December to compete in the preliminaries. Teams consisted of up to five 5th – 8th graders. “NASA’s Newest” certainly held their own as a smaller group amongst these middle school students, answering extensive questions from Honeywell scientists and engineers about their International Lunar Base Model, which they named Lunar Station Artemis after the Greek goddess of the moon.

Of the 232 teams, only 6 finalists were chosen to compete at the Challenger Space Center on December 31st. The pride and excitement of our extraordinary team was overwhelming as they were named a finalist on December 7th! All those weekends and holidays spent working on their project was well worth it!

This is the 11th year that Honeywell and its fellow sponsors have provided such a distinctive and enriching opportunity for students to participate. This year, students had to research and create a scale model of a lunar base that would sustain up to 40 people for at least two years on the moon, mine helium-3, which can be used as a "clean" fuel source in nuclear fusion, and provide a future launch site to Mars.

We were honored to be amongst such outstanding teams during the finals. Competitors gave a 10 minute oral presentation followed by tough questions from a panel of 7 Honeywell experts and four NASA Astronauts who were on the space shuttle Atlantis. Safety was of top priority to the astronauts and our team responded thoroughly and without hesitation to difficult questions such as why they had chosen the south pole of the moon for the base’s location and how they determined the number of solar panels needed to power the base.

Dave Douglas, Vice President of Space and Missiles for Honeywell, told Jeff Javier of the Arizona Republic, that he was looking for “feasibility and practicality of the projects and was impressed with how much research the students had done.”

“Houston, here we come!” was Jacob Garza’s proclamation as the team stepped off stage after being announced the winners. The kids are really looking forward to seeing first-hand many of the things they have been researching during their VIP tour of the Johnson Space Center.

 “NASA’s Newest” proved that anything is possible with hard work, determination, confidence, and support. The support, vision, and commitment of the following people helped the team make their goal a reality: Their coaches, their amazing parents & family members, the CCS administration and flexible staff, and Dave Gittlein.  A special thank you to Honeywell, the Fiesta Bowl team, the Arizona Republic, Microsoft Mission Control, the Challenger Space Center, Megan Toohey, Jason Wozny, Ed Sharpe, and Justin Underhill.

Aerospace Challenge Video - NASA's Newest Story

This video, shown at our Aerospace Night SAC Meeting, was created by Principal Miller to tell the story of NASA's Newest. 

Click "Play" to start the video.  It may take a few seconds to start.  If you don't see the video below, your web browser may be blocking the Windows Media Active-X component used to show the video.

Photos and Media Coverage

A photo slideshow of the Aerospace Challenge experience from start to finish is included below.

Please visit the following sites if you would like to read more about the event and our team's accomplishments.

Arizona Republic - Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge finals coming up

Arizona Republic - Glendale school wins Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge

Glendale Daily Planet - www.glendaledailyplanet.com (scroll down until you see the article).

Glendale-Peoria Today / YourWestValley.com - Glendale Students up to the Challenge

Glendale Star - Glendale School Wins Aerospace Challenge

News Channel 12 - School Solutions - Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge