Will cavity-causing bacteria grow more quickly in space than it does on Earth? Thanks to a special contest, four students from a Career Technical Education (CTE) high school in Massachusetts will be able to answer this question when their science project returns from space.

The group of four students from Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School (or Monty Tech) entered their experiment, “The Growth Rate of Lactobacillus Acidophilus in Microgravity,” in a contest run by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) through the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. The students formed one of ten winning teams that were selected from over 500 applicants to receive the grand prize – an opportunity to launch the experiment into space on the shuttle Atlantis’ final flight this Friday, July 8th.

Monty Tech’s winning group comprises of two CTE students who are in the school’s dental assisting program and two who participate in the cabinetry program. The students will attend the launch of Atlantis this week at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

CTE programs nationwide are facilitating rigorous, hands-on student learning to prepare students for college and careers. To learn more about the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, click here. If you would like to share other compelling stories about successful CTE programs, please contact Kara Herbertson, Education Policy Analyst at NASDCTEc, at kherbertson@careertech.org.