BSS Team Wins Multiple Awards at NASA Hackathon

The world’s largest hackathon brings together thousands of coders, scientists, data analysts and space enthusiasts from around the world to solve challenges affecting communities. Valerie and Miranda’s project, Data Pathways to Human Settlements, explored the relationship between access to green space and mental health using data from the Canadian Space Agency and NASA. 

Their team, Green Aura, earned four awards at the Toronto event: Winner of Best Storytelling, Runners-up for Best Use of Science, Best Use of Technology and Best Mission Concept. They also secured a place as one of three Toronto teams advancing to the Global NASA Space Apps competition, where their project will be judged alongside entries from around the world — a remarkable achievement for high school students competing among university and professional teams.

Achievements like this are grounded in our curriculum. At BSS, courses such as Computer Science, Earth and Space Science and Data Management equip students with the technical fluency, analytical thinking and collaborative problem-solving skills needed to tackle complex, real-world challenges. By applying their learning to open-ended projects, they learn to approach problems from multiple angles, preparing them to excel in opportunities such as the NASA Hackathon. 

Congratulations to Valerie and Miranda who successfully translated their classroom learning into a multi-award-winning project! We wish them luck as they advance to the global stages of the competition.