Hickman seniors Alec Hume and Brady Lunceford, along with Battle junior Jonas Ferguson, have spent the school year in their CASA class building a zero-gravity grow lab for the competition as part of the Design & Prototyping program of NASA HUNCH. Now, they are national finalists, ranking high among the 277 participating schools in the nation. The grow lab is intended to support a plant for the first 30 days after seed through a hydroponic system. Elements of their project have the opportunity to make their way onto the International Space Station (ISS) and would likely be used in a modular design to sustain multiple plants individually yet simultaneously. According to the NASA HUNCH website, 824 items have been flown to the ISS as a result of this project.

It is an invigorating approach to age-old stories of love, friendship, and community told through the lives of Jesus Christ and his followers: with singing and dancing! -Anna Waters (12), Stage Manager