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Erie students take part in university STEM partnerships; balloon flight reached nearly 89,000 feet
Summary
District STEM programming included a Mercyhurst exploration for 43 students and a Gannon University ballooning project involving 16 students; the balloon reached about 27,100 meters (88,912 feet), flew roughly 39 miles and was recovered near Panama Rocks, officials said.
Dr. Rick Schneider updated the board on STEM efforts that paired Erie students with regional universities and emphasized hands-on learning and college-credit opportunities.
Schneider described a Mercyhurst STEM exploration that engaged 43 students from both high schools with keynote presentations, interactive sessions and a student panel. He said the event aimed to expose students to STEM career pathways and hands-on technology demonstrations.
On the Gannon University ballooning project, Schneider said engineering students designed and built payloads using Raspberry Pi computers, video components and Iridium satellite trackers. "If I'm counting correctly, I think they designed seven total different payloads," he said, and added that students participated in assembling, helium filling and launch operations.
Schneider reported the flight reached an altitude of roughly "27,100 meters. That's 88,912 feet." He said the flight covered about 39 miles in roughly an hour and a half and that the team recovered payloads near a farm outside Panama Rocks. The collected data and video will be shared with Gannon University and NASA partners. Schneider said the program will continue into the 2025—26 school year and that Gannon is working on curriculum that could become a dual-credit engineering course.
Board members asked technical questions about the launch and recovery; Schneider described altitude, buoyancy and planned curriculum work with Dr. Wupan Lee at Gannon.
No board votes were required on the STEM reports; the presentation closed with applause for student participants.
