The five 2003 Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge finalist teams, along with Honeywell and Fiesta Bowl officials and judges, and NASA astronauts

Future Space Explorers from West Side Home Educators Group Win the 2004 Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge Finals

In front of four NASA astronauts and scientific and engineering experts from Honeywell, a team of four students from the West Side Home Educators Homeschool Support Group of Peoria defended their International Space Station projects with oral presentations and an intense question and answer session. They won the trip of a lifetime when they were declared the First Place winners in the Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge held at the Challenger Space Center in Peoria. The astronauts who presented the award are Michael Bloomfield, Steven Lindsey, Carlos Noriega and Stephanie Wilson.

The competition is designed to enhance students’ knowledge of space and science technology through the development of a new generation of the International Space Station. The team, including their teacher, will be flown to Kennedy Space Center where they will experience a behind-the-scenes look at a NASA launch facility. In addition, they received tickets to the Fiesta Bowl football game, where they were announced during one of the game timeouts, along with a simulated space flight mission for their classroom to the Challenger Space Center.

Taught by Chris Mahar, the team members are: Pearl Mahar, age 11, 7th grade; Ellen Rutter, age 10, 6th grade; Andrew Russell, age 10, 5th grade; and John Russell, age 12, 7th grade. Their project name is Prometheus.

The four runner-up teams are (not in any order):

Valley-Wide Homeschoolers, Phoenix. Teacher: Valerie Spink. Project Name: Titan Explorer. Students: Eric Horton, age 12, 6th grade; Nathan Spink, age 13, 7th grade; Andrew Chill, age 13, 7th grade; Brennyn Mackey, age 11, 7th grade; Brad Gustafson, age 13, 8th grade.

St. Simon and Jude School, Diocese of Phoenix. Teacher: Maureen Hill. Project Name: Caelum Ciritas (Sky City). Students: Kevin Coltin, age 12, 7th grade; Nick Ayers, age 13, 7th grade; Robert Gaelick, age 13, 7th grade; Adam Morrison, age 13, 7th grade; Dereck Tanaka, age 12, 7th grade.

Maricopa Elementary School, Maricopa Unified School District, Maricopa. Teacher: Nancy Rollins. Project Name: Half Moon. Students: Tatum Early, age 11, 6th grade; Mario Bandin, age 11, 6th grade; Kearsten Jensen, age 11, 5th grade; Vanessa Driz, age 11, 6th grade; Melissa Matthes, age 11, 6th grade.

Four Peaks Elementary School, Fountain Hills Unified School District. Teacher: Jean Boatman. Project Name: New Age Space Station. Students: Becky Kasper, age 10, 5th grade; Killian O’Connell, age 10, 5th grade; Ashley Hauver, age 11, 5th grade; Christina Getten, age 10, 5th grade; Lizzy Simkins, age 11, 5th grade.

Email Tom Foltz to sign up for next year’s competition.