A total of four students will be heading to space camp this summer after receiving scholarships funded by the Alabama legislature.

PLAS eight-grade student Kirkland Bradford, seventh-grade Pike County student Emily Hussey, Goshen High eighth-grade student Brady Singleton and Banks Middle School student Gabrielle Leveque all received scholarships in the district.

The application for the SALSA (Space Academy for Leading Students in Alabama) scholarships was open to all Alabama students ages 12 through 14 to attend the camp, which promotes science, technology, engineering and mathematics education along with leadership skills.

All of the students were excited when they got the word that they had been selected to receive the scholarships.

“I was very surprised to get it,” Bradford said. “I think it will be a great opportuntity to learn more about space and improve my skills. I haven’t been to the space center since I was really little and Huntsville is really cool, so I’m excited.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Singleton said. “There’s not much else to do during the summer so it is definitely going to be a highlight.”

“I think it will widen my interest for possibly being an astronaut or rocket scientist,” Hussey said.

For the applications, each of the students was asked what piece of technology they would create if they had the chance.

“I would create a vehicle or suit so that you could go outside in any weather,” Hussey said.

“I would make a device that is sort of a like a reverse microwave, said Singleton. “You put your drink in and it makes it cold really fast, maybe using some types of really ocld chemicals like liquid nitrogen.”

“My invention would be a smart garage that automatically opens when your car drives up to it,” Singleton said. “Then when you’re away you can lock it so it doesn’t open for anybody else.”

Editor’s note: Leveque, along with Pike County Schools teacher Amy Garrett, were covered in a previous article in the Thursday, March 28 edition of The Messenger.