The Thomas Johnson Middle School STEM scholars won 1st place in the Solar System Competition sponsored by the Patriots Technology Center at the Howard Owens Science Center in Greenbelt, MD on June 5, 2014.  The competition requires the students to do research, write an essay, and create a poster presentation, brochure and oral presentation about NASA Research Center.

The prize for winning was a free trip to the International Space Camp at Huntsville, Alabama on July 18-25, 2014.  Mrs. Rayela accompanied the students.  She attended the Space Camp as scholar of INSPIRE organization.  The students and Mrs. Rayela experienced the life of an astronaut for a week.  They did STEM activities, space shuttle mission, lunar mission, build and launch rockets, zip line and many more.  The students and Mrs. Rayela would like to thank the main sponsors of the International Space Camp prize, the INSPIRE and the Maryland Business Round Table and the Patriots Technology Center for sponsoring the competition.