(Left to right): Tricia Neugebauer (MCTEA/MHS), Tom Durkin (SD Space Grant), and Marie Gillespie (Pierre Indian Learning Center)

• Tricia Neugebauer of Mitchell Career and Technical Education Academy (MCTEA) and Mitchell High School won a $5,000 grant to purchase the Little Bits Electronics "Pro Library" for use in a cross-curricular project called "The Electric House".  She is interested in giving her physics students a greater opportunity to explore, and use, concepts in electricity and circuits in a way that provides for more creativity while they are learning.
• Dorothy Marie Gillespie of the Pierre Indian Learning Center won a $1,620 grant for her project titled: "Student Exploration in Near Space".  The purpose of her project is to bring the science standard concepts of weather, atmosphere, and space together through high-altitude ballooning.  Marie's students will design the balloon payload, select a launch date using their knowledge of meteorology, analyze data collected by the payload instruments, and watch as the balloon rises through the various layers of the atmosphere and finally gives them a glimpse of space.