Delaney Martinez was like a child in a candy store.
In reality, she was a child in a laboratory when she and 11 other Orange County students made a special VIP visit to the NASA jet laboratory at La Cañada Flintridge on June 17.
Delaney, who makes scientific videos on his YouTube channel “Science with Dee” And has more than 175,000 subscribers, certainly felt at home.
“It was so fun,” said the 13 -year -old. “My favorite part was to see all the models of Mars Rovers definitively. It was super cool, because they had the very first model at the most recent. It was really cool to see the comparison.”
Students all obtained the trip according to their work in 2024 Science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (Steam) Race to Space Reading Challenge.
The winners of the Reading challenge are held at the entrance to Athenaeum, a private membership club on the Caltech campus in Pasadena. Athenaeum opened when Albert Einstein visited the campus for the first time in the winter of 1930.
(Thanks to Pat Burns)
Founder Pat Burns said that she started reading space in 2021 after the Orange County children’s book festival, which she co -founded, had to go virtual the previous year Due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I missed that children are really committed,” said Burns. “So I decided not to make a festival of virtual books in 2021. I wanted to make a reading challenge, but I wanted to be able to encourage Stem. To my surprise, we had more than 1,600 children’s recordings and we had more than 500. ”
She retired from the management of the children’s book festival after the 2022 edition to devote her time to the Reading challenge. During the three years of the reading challenge, more than 4,000 students in total participated.
Divided by age group in four levels, students trace their progress in reading STEM books on an online platform called Bean back. Everything they read beyond the requirements brings them bonus tickets, which they can enter to win things like zoom calls with astronauts, JPL trip, laptops, sports tickets or publisher’s books.
Ryan Melendez, a seventh year student entering the Pegasus school in Huntington Beach, said that his professor Jaime Kunze-Thibeau had recommended the program.
Students examine their environment during a special visit to JPL on June 17.
(Thanks to Pat Burns)
The trip to JPL was one of the coolest things he did all year round, he said.
“My favorite part would be the mission control center,” said Ryan. “There were a lot of people on computers there. I thought it was pretty cool. It would be a fun job to do. ”
After traveling the laboratory with two scientific tourist guides, students were able to go to the California Institute of Technology for a special buffet lunch in Athenaeum, a private club on the Pasadena school campus.
“It’s simply magnificent inside,” said Burns about Athenaeum, which opened in 1930 with an official dinner to celebrate Albert Einstein’s first visit to Caltech. “Architecture, detailed woodwork, white tablecloths, servers. The children, about half of them, liked as much as they loved the tour, which shocked me. They really appreciated and knew they were somewhere special. ”
Julia Rundzio, a new sixth year student at Sequoia primary school in Westminster, also seized several tickets in the drawing and was selected for JPL. For the next challenge for reading the steam to space, she could help promote the program within her school, Julia’s father, Remi Rundzio said.
“It’s an incredible program,” said Julia. “It motivates children to read books that are not only a fiction, but also have scientific elements and help educate about different things that happen around us.”
Pat Burns, co-founder of the Orange County children’s book festival, began reading the steam race in 2021.
(File photo)
The other students of the county who made the trip of JPL included Emma Zirney and Kenzie Murdie de Lake Forest, Andrew Lee Golden from Garden Grove, Harry Lee by Fullerton, Madelyn Perez of Mission Viejo, Matthew Jay d’Irvine, Rinal Jamal by Yorba Linda, Sahas Yalamanchili of Irvine and Sai Sitaraman Fullton. Students went from basic age to high school.
Burns said the program was based on generous donations for bonus opportunities, as well as subsidy financing. This is the first year that students were able to visit JPL due to previous covid protocols.
The 2025 edition of the steam race at the Reading Challenge Espace exploded on October 3, with registration from September 19. Burns said she was trying to connect with Rocket Lab to organize a bonus tour, or vast another Beach -based company that develops space stations of artificial gravity.