Green Country Student Named Semifinalist For National NASA Contest

A student from Riverfield Country Day School in Tulsa is a semifinalist in a nationwide NASA competition.

Junior Elizabeth Williamson’s paper is titled "To the Moon and Back.” It has landed her a spot in the semifinals of a NASA essay contest.

"I saw my name and we were all like, ‘Woo!’" Williamson said. "Now that I made it to semifinalist, I'm like, ‘Hey, I could go somewhere with this.’"

The contest challenges students to imagine themselves leading a one-week expedition on the moon's south pole and to provide examples of the perfect crew.

Riverfield Country Day School students are no stranger to winning competitions like this. Some students won a NASA app development challenge. They were rewarded with a trip to Kennedy Space Center two years ago.

“I think it lights a fire and ignites a passion," teacher Penny Kuhn said.

Kuhn teaches a technology class at Williamson’s school. She guided a group of students as they designed the winning app back in 2019. She knows how important projects like these can be.

"That was kind of a life-changing event for so many of those students,” Kuhn said. “The internships and opportunities that are provided, career opportunities that these type of challenges provide for our students, is just amazing," Kuhn said.

Kuhn wants Williamson to have the same success with this contest, which also gives winners a trip to NASA headquarters.

"Oh, that would be amazing,” Kuhn said. “I would love for her to have the same type of experience that we had.”

Kuhn said helping her students with these contests might take a little extra work, but she said it's worth it in the end.

“Seeing a student find their spark, seeing the excitement in Lizzie (Williamson) and how her world has opened up even a little bit broader because of this experience,” Kuhn said. “That spark and that energy from them is what sustains me.”

Williamson said the finalists for the competition will be announced on April 7.