PCES student embraces STEM experience through Space Camp

After attending Space Camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center with his school class last year, Noah Raper enjoyed it so much, he said he knew he wanted to go again.

Even though his family moved from Decatur to Phil Campbell, Noah said he was excited to still get to attend and to reconnect with old friends and classmates from Decatur during the weeklong camp.

“We got to build rockets and swim in a 24-foot deep tank like the astronauts do when they’re training to go into space,” Noah said. Simulators were also a key experience of the weeklong camp. “One simulated gravity on the moon. You sat in a chair and got to jump up and down like you were on the moon.” Activities incorporated a number of math and science disciplines.

Noah, a fifth grader, and his family moved to Phil Campbell to be closer to his grandparents. In addition to space camp, Noah enjoys playing basketball, baseball and football. When he grows up, he said, he might want to be a professional athlete or a police officer.