iLEAD Antelope Valley’s DreamUp Launch Team Aloe Vera

My name is Mrs. Reed, and I am the 5th grade facilitator at iLEAD Antelope Valley. This is my third year teaching at iLEAD, but I have been teaching for seven years! In all my experience, I have never had such a unique opportunity as shepherding a group of incredible young people to send an experiment to space! I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to work alongside other brilliant facilitators and get to know these inspiring learners. When I’m not in the classroom, I enjoy spending time with my husband, our one-year-old son, and our two rescue dogs. We love to go camping, spend time at the park, and visit my family in San Diego. You can almost always find me with an iced coffee in hand and, if I’m lucky, a good book, with a dog or two curled up in my lap. Living in the Antelope Valley, where we are surrounded by aerospace, I find it incredibly rewarding to be able to help learners apply skills from the classroom to a project that can impact our community right here in Lancaster! I can’t wait to watch our team grow throughout this experience.

My name is Shyla, and I am in the 6th grade at iLEAD Antelope Valley. I enjoy working with my hands, watching YouTube, and hanging out with my friends. I love to work on cars, and I really want to be an automotive engineer. I love to go to the beach with my family and also love to make crafts. I have also flown a plane with an astronaut, which inspired me to be on this launch team. My father encouraged my love for cars and taught me how to change alternators and radiators. I am in the school newspaper class and have had the opportunity to write articles and create my own column in the newspaper. I like that we can speak freely and creatively in class. The DreamUp to Space project has brought me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and has been an awesome experience. During our proposal period, it challenged me to dig deep into researching our idea and allowed me to build upon the concepts we learned in science class. Writing and presenting our experiment was so much more detailed than anything I had ever done. This journey has been amazing. I am continuing to learn so many new things through this process and am very thankful for our Mission Control Facilitators, Ms. Brown, Ms. Fredette, Ms. Fortun, and Mrs. Reed.

My name is Gabriela Samulde, but I prefer Gabi, and I am in the 6th grade at iLEAD Antelope Valley. I enjoy video games, watching anime, and reading manga. In school, I have earned high honors and honors for three years. I enjoy collecting figures, specifically Funko Pops, mostly anime ones. I am also a writer for the iLEAD AV school newspaper. The DreamUp to Space Mission continues to be an awesome experience. During our proposal period, I was challenged to dig deep into researching our idea, and this allowed me to build upon the concepts we learned in science class. Writing and presenting our experiment was so much more detailed than anything I had ever done. This journey has been amazing. I am continuing to learn so many new things through this process and am very thankful for our Principal Facilitators, Ms. Fortun and Mrs. Reed, as well as our Mission Control, Mrs. Fredette and Mrs. Melville.

My name is Mason Mora, and I am in the 6th grade at iLEAD Antelope Valley. I enjoy playing sports, including football and baseball. I like football because it teaches us how to be a team and to be disciplined. I play for the West Lancaster Eagles, a football team in the Pacific League. I want to be an NFL player or a realtor. I also like to play baseball because it’s fun to hit a ball with a bat and to run around bases. My favorite classes are English and science. I also like to collect shoes and spend time with my family. I’m currently taking a guitar class at iLEAD AV. I learned so much from my little time in class. I’m so glad I was selected by the Aloe Vera team to join them on this amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I think this will help with my future. I am so thankful for all of the facilitators who have been helping me with this process of DreamUp to Space, including Mrs. Fortun, Mrs. Reed, Mrs. Kathleen, and Mrs. Shawna.

My name is Xander, and I am in the 6th grade at iLEAD Antelope Valley. I really enjoy video games, watching movies, and playing sports. I am a football player, and I like to think I am pretty good at the sport. My favorite position is cornerback; I defend the receiver. I was injured going into the first game last season, and I learned to be more cautious and appreciate my health. I’ve been playing football for close to five years, and I’ve played in three championships. So far, the DreamUp to Space project has been pretty fun. This project has helped me learn a lot about researching, determination, and so much more. Working on this project has been one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it in the end. I have learned so many new things through this project, and I’m so excited to learn even more. I’m so thankful for everyone who has helped me with it.

My name is Avery, and I am in the 6th grade at iLEAD Antelope Valley. I enjoy ice skating and the beach, and I also love making crafts and bracelets. I have participated in many different sports/activities, such as ballet, cheerleading, and more. Since 3rd grade, I’ve wanted to be a paleontologist or archeologist. My favorite subjects in school are English and science. I love writing stories for my family to read. I’m also on the iLEAD AV Q&A team and the newspaper team. I’ve had the opportunity to interview my teacher, Mrs. Fortun, and have written articles on numerous topics. I am so grateful to be selected to be on this launch team and to experience this amazing opportunity with all my team members. My father works at Northrop Grumman and has told me about some of his amazing experiences building aircrafts. He has inspired me to join this launch team and to study science. Although I’m not interested in pursuing a career in aerospace, I would still love to be a paleontologist. I am still learning new things about Aloe Vera Barbadensis Miller every day. I am so grateful to have such a productive team. Our members stay on task and bring so much to our team. I also want to thank all the people/administrators who have helped me and my team throughout this whole process and have taken time out of their schedules to assist us, especially Mrs. Fortun, Mrs. Reed, Mrs. Kathleen, and Mrs. Shawna.

My name is Harmony, and I am in the 5th grade at iLEAD Antelope Valley. When I’m not busy working on the Aloe Vera project, I like to spend my free time enjoying art, Netflix, and anything Disney! My family is very important to me. I love spending quality time with my dad, building LEGO sets together. We especially love going to Disneyland together. Some of my favorite rides are Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Indiana Jones. I also love to bake cakes and banana bread for my family. The DreamUp to Space project has been great. I love making the Team Aloe Vera slides. I also love my team. I am learning so many new things about space. Thank you, Mrs. Melville, Mrs. Fredette, Mrs. Reed, and Mrs. Fortun.

My name is Kamya Paschall, and I am in the 5th grade at iLEAD Antelope Valley. I enjoy math, dancing on YouTube, and gymnastics. I have run track competitively since I was six years old, winning numerous awards in different track-and-field events. I also love to take part in science projects. I am thankful for the opportunity to experience this moment. I am also very thankful for our Principal Facilitators, Ms. Fortun and Mrs. Reed, as well as our Mission Control, Mrs. Fredette and Mrs. Melville.

My name is Marlaya Fisher, and I am in the 5th grade at iLEAD Antelope Valley. I am passionate about many things, including dance, gymnastics, and theater. I have seen some really great shows, such as Hamilton, and I love participating in community theater. My favorite show I acted in was Matilda as well as The Nutcracker and Cinderella. It was so fun and a great experience. I also do competitive ballroom. My favorite ballroom dance is foxtrot. One of my pastimes is gymnastics, which I love because it will make me stronger and because it goes hand in hand with acting and dance. I am continuing to learn so many helpful and amazing new things through this process and am extremely thankful for our Principal Facilitators, Ms. Fortun and Mrs. Reed, as well as our Mission Control, Mrs. Fredette and Mrs. Melville.

Raegan Brown is a passionate Nigerian-American 16-year-old junior at iLEAD Exploration. Raegan has a passion for everything creative and loves to express herself through graphic design, coding, art, and science. In her free time, Raegan applies her creativity through media and filmmaking, which is what she wants to do in college and as a career.