On January 23, Midland Public Schools welcomed NASA HUNCH representatives Dr. Florence Gold and engineer Nancy Hall for a series of campus visits, highlighting the district’s strong engagement in STEM education. Their visit focused on Dow High’s Space Farmers, an after-school club that uses simulations to provide fresh vegetables and fruits in long-term space missions. The club conducts International Space Station-simulated space botany experiments and engages in STEM practices. The guests toured Central Park Elementary, delivered a lecture, observed engineering classes at Dow High, and met with the Space Farmers, who have conducted over 30 space botany experiments for NASA. Two of their projects were recently selected for presentation at the Human Research Program Investigators Workshop in Galveston, Texas.

Representatives from the NASA HUNCH program, Nancy Hall and Dr. Florence Gold, talk with Jordin MacGregor, a senior at Dow High School in Corey Spurling’s Engineering class.

Gold and Hall also toured Jefferson Middle School and participated in community activities, emphasizing NASA HUNCH’s commitment to fostering student innovation. Their visit reinforced the program’s real-world impact, allowing students to showcase projects with potential applications in space exploration.