DoDEA

PEACHTREE CITY, GA — November 20, 2009 — Bolden Elementary/Middle School Science Teacher Pat Musgrave recently received word that one of her students, eighth grader Caroline Fontenot, has written an award-winning essay for the Cassini Scientist for a Day essay contest. The contest is designed to give students a taste of life as a scientist. Bolden ES/MS is located aboard Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, S.C.

Students studied three targets that the Cassini robotic spacecraft imaged on Oct. 11, 2009. They chose the one image they thought would yield the best science results and explained their reasons in an essay. Because Caroline’s essay won, she and her classmates participated in a web-based videoconference with Cassini scientists.

“I’ve been privileged to have Caroline in science for two years. She exhibits an intense desire to expand her knowledge of science and technology,” said Musgrave. “During the videoconference, Caroline offered several insightful questions to the scientists. I’m not surprised she won and I’m most proud of her.”
Bolden ES/MS Principal Chuck Yahres echoed her sentiments. “Caroline is an excellent student with a great attitude toward school. She works hard, and is a pleasure to be around. We're proud of her receiving this award and glad that she's a student at Bolden.”

Fontenot is the daughter of U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Vincent and Danielle Fontenot.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is an international collaboration among three space agencies. The Cassini orbiter was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The European Space Agency (ESA) built the Huygens Probe. The Italian Space Agency provided Cassini's high-gain antenna. Seventeen countries had contributed to the mission at the time of launch. More than 250 scientists worldwide are involved in studying the data coming in from the Saturn system.