COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Challenger Learning Center of Colorado, a STEM education nonprofit, has added hydroponics to its hands-on programming this school year — made possible through a grant from the Broadmoor Garden Club.
The Challenger Learning Center was created as a legacy to the crew lost in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. The nonprofit uses interactive, space-themed mission simulations, school partnerships, planetarium visits, and more to inspire students to pursue careers in STEM fields.
"The Challenger Learning Center is a place that students come to in order to participate in STEM-related activities and simulations," said Natascha Wiseman of the Challenger Learning Center of Colorado.
Last year, the center served more than 33,000 students through its programming.
The addition of hydroponics was designed to broaden the center's reach to students who may not connect with its more traditional offerings.
"It reaches students who aren't necessarily interested in computer programming, or 3D printing, or geology," Wiseman said. "You have this certain set of students who are interested in the biological sciences."
To fund the new hydroponics station, the learning center turned to the Broadmoor Garden Club, which has been awarding grants — many focused on horticulture — since 1958.
"The only reason we have what we have now is because of the Broadmoor Garden Club," Wiseman said.
With funding secured, the hydroponics station launched at the start of the current school year as part of the center's mission control setup.
"Having a hydroponics station in our mission control absolutely allows us to reach a broader range of students who have an interest outside of what we would normally associate with space," Wiseman said.
For the Broadmoor Garden Club, the partnership has delivered exactly what its members hoped for.
"It's wonderful to see it, to see what they did with it and everything," a club representative said. "It's exactly what we hoped for."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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