Next up: space autographs

June 2, 2023

Launch-U-students-1 — Launch U students Abby Tichelaar, left, and Cole Herring designed an edible box for the NASA HUNCH competition (courtesy)

Kent ISD — As the Top 5 finishers in the NASA HUNCH competition, Launch U and Grand Rapids Community College students Abby Tichelaar and Cole Herring were given the honor of signing a NASA stowage locker now headed to the International Space Station.

Abby and Cole competed in the health and biomedical Science category of the April project-based learning competition for high school students. The two studied biomedical engineering and used their learning in that area to design and create an edible cargo box that included slots for granola bars.

A second team, Ottawa Area ISD Careerline Tech Center, and GRCC culinary students Katie Bird and Devon Vanderwall, were among the Top 10 finalists in the competition’s culinary challenge. Those students also were able to sign the stowage locker.

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Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

Joanne Bailey-Boorsma is a reporter covering Kent ISD, Godwin Heights, Kelloggsville, Forest Hills and Comstock Park. The salutatorian for the Hartland Public Schools class of 1985, she changed her colors from blue and maize to green and white by attending Michigan State University, where she majored in journalism. Joanne moved to the Grand Rapids area in 1989, where she started her journalism career at the Advance Newspapers. She later became the editor for On-the-Town magazine, a local arts and entertainment publication. Her eldest daughter is a nurse, working in Holland, and her youngest attends Oakland University. Both are graduates from Byron Center High School. She is a volunteer for the Van Singel Fine Arts Advisory Board and the Kent District Library. In her free time, Joanne enjoys spending time with her family, checking out local theater and keeping up with all the exchange students they have hosted through the years. Read Joanne's full bio