Teacher Wins NASA Grant; Norfolk Students Are Growing Food For Space Using Soil From Mars

By Melissa Spellman
Staff Reporter
New Journal and Guide

This third week of March we continue to recognize women who have made amazing strides for women in industry, politics, education and celebrate those who are continuing to push the marker to ensure future generations of women have a running start. A local STEM teacher is doing just that for middle school girls and boys through a NASA project.

Helen Ballard, a sixth grade Science Teacher at Southside STEM Academy at Campostella in Norfolk, Virginia, has received a “Plant the Moon Challenge” grant from NASA to grow plants with soil from Mars to create food sustainability in space.

Ballard and her students are engaging in what is known as astrobotany. STEM is an acronym for Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics. Ballard explains, “It is a higher level of academic performance for students with an interest in Engineering, Science, NASA, astronauts, all those things that come along with it, and mathematics. It has been something that has been introduced into the school systems in the last 10 years.”

Helen Ballard was born and raised in Washington D.C. She resided in Maryland before coming to Norfolk four years ago. She holds four degrees in education which include a bachelors in elementary education, a double master’s degree in curriculum and instruction and business leadership, and finally a Phd in leadership education administration.

Dr. Ballard has worked in the field of education for over 20 years. This is her first year at Southside STEM Academy and her first year participating in the Plant The Moon Challenge. There were grant recipients from Florida, Puerto Rico, California, and West Virginia to name a few. Ballard is the only representative from Norfolk, Virginia.

When she received the Plant The Moon grant from NASA, Ballard says she was awestruck. Unfamiliar with the gran,t she applied not expecting what would happen next. “When they sent me the email, I gasped for a minute. I was like Oh, my God! They chose me! It was really exciting,” shared Ballard.

Dr. Ballard applied for the grant in November of 2023, was notified of the award around Christmas, and the students were planting by February 2024. Prior to planting there were several zoom meetings and instruction on the 8-week program which ends on April 14.

“They sent us the actual soil from Mars. The soil from Mars is called regolith. It’s real fluffy and it looks like light sand. It feels weird because it’s so fluffy,” said Ballard.

The team of students were tasked with taking the regolith soil (which comes from solid moon rock and dust particles from outer space) and mixing it with regular potting soil from Earth.

“50/50 is how we had to mix it [regolith] with regular potting soil. We had to determine what we were going to grow. So, I talked it over with my sixth-grade team members,” said Ballard.

Her team consisted of 10 students from her honors and general science classes. “We decided we wanted to grow herbs. We had a zoom session where we met one of the astronauts who was actually in outer space. She said she would really like to see more herbs,” said Ballard. 

The students were excited and eager to jump on the herb suggestion.

Ballard continued, “We decided to grow spinach, spearmint, and basil.” Knowing what they wanted to plant now, the students had to build a greenhouse in the classroom.

“We have three or four tiers on a rack and enclose it with a clear plastic shower curtain. We put the plants in and waited for them to germinate.” Ballard said the heating lamp on the plants is what helped the plants to fully germinate.

Students must document everything they do.  “If we take the planter out of the greenhouse, we have to document the time and how long we took it out. So, the students are really engaged and they like it because it makes them feel like they’re scientists,” said Ballard.

Ballard shared that the student’s chose spinach, spearmint, and basil because of the health attributes. They are good for diabetes. The spearmint is good for your breath, and astronauts can pull it off and eat it raw.

The spinach is fast-growing. They have free planted spinach three times and it has died three times.  Ballard explained, “The first time we planted, it really prospered. We had a three-day weekend; when I came back my heart was broken.  All of it was limped over brown. We had to evaluate what we needed to do. We determined that we have to moisture the soil every two days.” The basil is the only plant that has had no problems and is growing very well.

She went on to explain that the goal is to have students figure out what plants can grow that astronauts can mimic in their spaceships. This will allow them to stay in space longer. It won’t require them to go back and forth.  “If the astronauts can figure out how they can have their own greenhouse growing they can do more research and stay in outer space longer,” said Ballard.

Since the beginning of the project the students have been required to submit videos, photos, and write-ups to document their progress. The students enjoy being scientists and gathering data on their plants.  Ballard said it has created a bond among the students.

“What it did was it showed me that they can communicate, they can make friendships, so it was a bigger thing than just the project of NASA. They were creating friendships and that was so cool for me to see,” said Ballard.

This NASA challenge opened the floodgates of the student’s curiosity, and they began growing other plants in the classroom. Outside of the NASA project, using regular potting soil the students have planted watermelon, tomatoes, and green onions. “They just got excited about being able to grow things. This opportunity is really opening their eyes in a different way,” said Ballard.

The 20-year educator shared that Black females hold only one to two percent in fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. She stated that with technology growing at such a rapid rate, it’s vital to start training our Black youth – girls and boys – to be able to think outside the box, to hone their critical thinking skills, to be able to produce, to understand a hypothesis, and an independent and dependent variable. How do you come up with a problem and find a solution? She says these are the tools she ingrains in her students at Southside Stem Academy.

Ballard’s passion for STEM runs deep. “We don’t just want to make sure we are putting students into careers that are already established. I want them to say, yes, I want to be an engineer. I want to be that first person to find a cure for cancer or sickle cell anemia or anything that is out there affecting the Black community.” She says her biggest goal is to encourage Black youth to get involved in STEM.

Ballard’s only disappointment has been not having the financial ability to purchase lab jackets for her 10 students. She also hopes to garner the attention of Norfolk’s Mayor and other prominent figures to recognize the students as they undertake this important endeavor in NASA’s The Plant the Moon Challenge.

On Saturday, May 8, an award ceremony will be held to reveal the winner among the grantees working on this project across the nation. Ballard hopes her students take the win. “I want to win because I really want it for them. If we are not chosen, I do want to make sure that I do this again for next year,” said Ballard.

Science Teacher Dr. Helen Ballard leaves these final thoughts for anyone who is interested in STEM. She says STEM is not a field to be afraid of, being an engineer or scientist doesn’t mean you must be great at math.  All you need to do is understand how you create data. It’s building critical thinking skills and you do not have to be an A plus student.