Plating activity in Mr. Overstreet's Discover Your Future Class.

Congratulations! 1ST PLACE: ROHAN WENTZEL Library of Choices South Middle 7th Grade, Heidi Zwiener

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — Four eighth-grade students at South Middle School will be taking their experiment to new heights after winning the NASA TechRise Student Challenge, a national competition that selected 60 teams out of more than 700 applicants. Students who register for the competition must submit a proposal for an experiment that will be carried out aboard a high-altitude balloon launched by NASA. The balloon has space for dozens of payloads and the teams that win are awarded $1,500 to build out their designed experiment. The payloads however are quite small—about the size of a loaf of bread—so staying within the confines of the payload requirements is key. Adamantia Sierros, Leyna Munroe, Fern Haggerty-Bever and Luci Moore at South were all selected by NASA for their plan to test how altitude affects motor efficiency, heat generation and power use, and were the only team selected from West Virginia.“It’s kind of like a puzzle,” Haggerty-Bever said when describing the groups’ design process. “You have to fit it into there, try to make sure everything’s good, make sure everything fits, because you also have guidelines, you can’t go over a certain weight limit, you can’t go over a certain voltage, you can’t go over a certain amp limit, space limit, all that kind of stuff.” The four said they were surprised to be picked since they were from West Virginia, but were nonetheless very excited when they found out they had been selected. A few of them already had some prior experience with robotics and knew they wanted to incorporate that knowledge into their design. The group specifically designed its experiment around the high altitude of the balloon, which was likely a key factor in their selection for the challenge. Danielle McCulloch, the program executive for NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program, told 12 News in an interview that environmental changes and being conscious about the test environment is exactly the kind of creativity teams are evaluated on during the selection process.“Those types of proposals rise to the top in terms of student teams that are really looking to understand how the space environment might impact the work that they’re looking to do,” McCulloch said. “Understanding microelectronics, understanding the performance of motors that can factor into robotics. All of those things factor into larger missions someday that [the students] might be involved in.” Throughout the process, students also meet with NASA engineers who act as mentors and advisors on how they can best build their project. Although the students have yet to begin assembling their experiment, the NASA balloon is not scheduled to launch until the summer of 2025.

Congratulations to our Aerial Drone Teams! All of our teams have qualified and will be representing West Virginia in the Northeast United States Dragonfly Championship in May!

Mrs. Beck's Science Class.

Governor's STEM Institute Information

8th graders were learning about the structure of DNA by making their own DNA models. Mrs. Rowan loves to pull art into her classroom activities.

Today the K-12 Speakers Bureau brought Nick Malone to South Middle.

When you bring in your spare change for our Penny Delays, it helps support our PBIS Rewards. Here are two examples of our 2nd Quarter Rewards.

Report cards have been sent home!

Congratulations Trevor Mcintyre and Lori Blosser! They have been recognized by McDonald's Restaurants for Outstanding Commitment to Academic Excellence and each awarded a $500 grant.

Stallion family have a safe break and we'll see you on January 6th!

Happy Holidays! 2-Hour Early Dismissal on Friday, December 20, 2024 No School for Students December 23, 2024 - January 3, 2025 Looking forward to seeing our students back in class on Monday, January 6, 2025!

Students in Ms. Christoff's class made 3D ornaments this week.

Today our Speakers Bureau presenter was Dr. Yoav Kaddar. He is the director of the WVU Dance Program, the WVU Summer Dance Academy. He received his BFA from The Juilliard School, his MFA from University of Washington, Seattle, and his PhD in Educational Administration from the University at Albany, NY. He has been a member of leading US modern dance companies performing around the country and abroad. Dr. Kaddar has choreographed over 70 works for dance and theatre, is a Fulbright Scholar, and teaches nationally and abroad. He has been a member of the American College Dance Association Board of Directors, served on the US Fulbright Selection Committee for the Arts and is the President of the National Dance Education Organization. Dr. Kaddar is the new Dean of the WV Governor’s Honors Academy hosted as of this summer on the WVU campus.

Mrs. Conley's Social Studies Class made WV Ornaments. Which one is your favorite?

The staff at South had a friendly door decorating competition. Each grade level, related arts, and the office staff decorated a door representing a Holiday song. Which door is your favorite?

Spirit Week December 16 - 20

Ms. Beck's Origami frog jumping lab. A lab in action😊

Students in Mrs. Walker's Science class use a mood board. This helps the teacher know how students are feeling and is from our Social- Emotional Learning summer training.