Pupils of the Academic Secondary Comprehensive School of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice became winners of an educational competition organized by the Polish Space Agency, accompanying the technological and scientific mission of IGNIS. In the grand finale, which took place at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology in Warsaw, they received awards from the hands of Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski.

- It was the first mission in which so much emphasis was placed on educational activities – as much as 20% of the time was devoted to educational activities for children and young people - explains Dr  Małgorzata Szymaszek, a physics teacher at ALO in Gliwice, who inspired students to participate in the competition. – As part of the program, numerous competitions were held, including “Simple Experiment – Space Discovery,” “Space Detectives,” “Earth Colours,” “One Can See More from Above” and “Play the Space Game.” Our pupils prepared projects that were noticed and awarded on September 24 during the Grand Final.

Aleksander Masztalski, Hanna Garczorz and Emilia Janoszka were the winners of the competition “Simple experiment – cosmic discovery.” The prize in this category is a trip to the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), the research institute in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

- This is the centre of the European Space Agency, where work is carried out on the design of new space missions, testing space technologies and ready-made satellites and their components - explains Dr Małgorzata Szymaszek. During the ceremony, Dr Uznański-Wiśniewski stressed that even the greatest goals can be achieved if one approaches them step by step. The astronaut also talked about how difficult it was to record experiments under microgravity conditions, and at the same time satisfying, because thanks to them pupils could learn with him. The winners also heard words of support from Deputy Minister Michał Jaros, who encouraged the pupils in making dreams come true. The competitions attracted about 150 young participants from all over Poland, and the awarded projects – including the works of our pupils – became part of this unique educational mission. This is a huge success and a reason for pride for the entire school community.

Congratulations!