Dennis Gallagher (ST13) was contacted in the first week of December by a Ms. Isaacson, the Director of Programs for several elementary through high schools, and a Ms. Nunes, the AP Computer Science educator at North High in Des Moines Iowa, asking if he would connect with five students participating in the NASA App Challenge. These are North High School students in the city and they knew he was an alumnus of the school. After talking to the students, they asked Gallagher back several times over the next week to help resolve questions. The students had been encouraged to seek out mentorship in addition to ask questions within the Challenge. They were already well on their way to producing the final products required for the challenge after overcoming most of the problems always faced by a first-time team. They remain excited by the experience and are planning for next year. These five are the first to participate in a NASA Challenge in the State of Iowa and are receiving the proper amount of statewide attention as a result.
