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Archive of events Fiesta Bowl 2010 
in reverse order. newest first.

MORE THAN 73,000 COLLEGE FOOTBALL FANS BRING ENERGY TO SUCCESSFUL FIESTA BOWL GAME IN GLENDALE

         GLENDALE, Ariz. – The city of Glendale rang in the New Year by hosting its fourth successful Fiesta Bowl game with tens of thousands of out-of-state visitors and millions more who watched the Glendale game on television.  Boise State and Texas Christian University fans not only watched the game from inside the University of Phoenix stadium, but they also stayed in Glendale hotels and dined and shopped at local businesses. 

         A survey by Glendale’s tourism officials found Glendale hotels near capacity or 100 percent full.  In addition, out-of-state travelers requested information on the city, Valley and state, and Glendale staff assisted more than 700 walk-in visitors to the Glendale Visitor Center in the past week.  Glendale’s Web sites had a 41 percent increase from the previous month in visitor traffic with more than 400,000 people visiting the city’s Web sites since Dec. 1st.

         More than 60 members of the media, including several TV crews from out of state, broadcast their news and sports reports from the Glendale Media Center, this includes a nationally broadcast pre-game sports show. 

         Glendale’s transportation leaders were pleased with traffic operations and noted an increase in fans utilizing buses or sharing vehicles resulting in a smooth flow of traffic.  Barricades were removed a little more than an hour after the game, which is a standard response time for Glendale’s Transportation Department. 

More out-of-state fans are expected to travel to Glendale in the next few days for this Sunday’s NFL playoff game between the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers.  The city’s tourism office has received numerous calls and e-mails for information on hotels, restaurants and attractions.  City officials predict Glendale will continue its upward trend of hotel bookings and will maintain its current 8.9% hotel occupancy increase from 2008.   Currently Glendale is the leader of hotel occupancy in the Valley.

Pinnacle High School Saturday, 

January 2, 2010 TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson On the length of the season 

This is 99 today. We have practice 100 tomorrow. Has he seen a drop off in energy? 
Today we’re in shorts. Yesterday we were half a day in shorts. 

Really, I think they’re pretty good. We’ve got all day  tomorrow  and  then  all  day  Saturday. 

 You’re  about  60  hours  away  from  kickoff,  and  not  doing  much  in between so there’s plenty 
of time to get their legs if they don’t have their legs to do what they need to do. 

But just watching them around out there, they look like they’re fine. Is he pleased with what he is seeing in practice?

 Once we got on site, and really the last three practices, are really honed in. 

Is it a big deal that they aren’t doing their walk through at the stadium? 

We’ve been in big stadiums. This stadium is a lot like Reliant Park. 

In a word, describe today’s practice.

 Efficient. 

We’re doing what we needed to do. That was our normal Thursday where the GAs
 try to beat us on defense with all the plays and everything else that goes on. 

On taking the pads off during practice on Wednesdays. How much of a difference has that made?
 We went 17 straight weeks. 

The reason why we did that was  just for the simple reason that we were tired. 
At the last three of four weeks of the season we were tired. 

Mentally they just kind of boost up what they did and I think it made a difference. 

Every year will be different. I thought it hurt our pad level a little bit by the
 end in that four weeks but generally I think it was good for us.’’

2010 TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL: TCU v BOISE STATE [ January 1 ] Media Day Interviews

	Ryan Winterswyk
	Kyle Wilson
	Daryl Washington
	Nate Potter
	Chris Petersen
	Gary Patterson
	Kellen Moore
	Jeremy Kerley
	Jeron Johnson
	Jerry Hughes
	Andy Dalton
	Tank Carder
	Gene Bleymaier, Robert Kustra, Chris Petersen

(These links  go to ASAP Sports with FastScripts, delivers a transcript of your press conference instantaneously. Better yet, the document is verbatim, one hundred percent accurate and letter perfect.)

being interviewed by Glendale  11 John Brictston and Joe Larger

Winston Venable, who had played at GCC and now Boise State being interviewed by Ed Sharpe Glendale Daily Planet KKAT-IPTV

 An interview with: BOISE STATE COACH PETERSEN - 
CONTRACT EXTENSION ANNOUNCEMENT

 
Robert Kustra  Gene Bleymaier  Chris Petersen

January 1, 2010

It is again just a phenomenal experience and one that we are overwhelmed with and it all starts with John Junker and his staff of yellow jackets. They have just been tremendous.

Today we are very excited as we start a new year to announce that Boise State University and Coach Petersen have come to an agreement on a new five-year contract for Coach Petersen to stay at Boise State University and continue as our head football coach.
This is something that obviously we've been wanting and working on for quite a while with Coach Petersen. We are just thrilled that we're able to come to terms and reach agreement on this new contract. We would like to think that Coach Petersen will be with us at Boise State throughout his career in coaching. Four-year record at 48-4 is just unprecedented.
We couldn't be happier with Coach and his staff and what they've done for our university and for our football program. And we want nothing more than for that to continue.

I want to thank Coach Pete for everything he has done for us, for the university, and agreeing to continue on as the head of this program and also President Kustra for his support and endorsement of the program. None of this would be possible without the commitment and the support of the administration starting with the President of the University.
So as we start 2010 we've got a great day, a great year ahead of us, and we are just very excited to announce that we do have a new five-year agreement with Coach Pete. The terms are being finalized, so we won't be talking specifics this morning. We will get the attorneys together to hammer out a contract.

Then it has to go to our state board of education. They need to bless it before we can talk publicly about the details of the contract. But what I can tell you today is that we have reached agreement in principle on a new five-year contract with Coach Pete.

Q. This is a new contract, not just an extension, a whole new five-year deal?

GENE BLEYMAIER: However you want to say it. It will be a five-year contract.

Q. Through 2014?

Q. Pending state board of education approval?

GENE BLEYMAIER: That is correct.

Q. When is that?

GENE BLEYMAIER: At the next earliest available meeting time. I don't know when that is right now.

Q. Did you guys finalize this this year or just decide to announce it here and it has been done for a little while? It has been done for a little while.

GENE BLEYMAIER: We finalized it a week ago and decided that now would be a good time, good way to start the new year.

Q. Is it going to be a significant amount more money or just more years mostly?

GENE BLEYMAIER: I don't know want to get into the details of the agreement. Suffice it to say, we think it is a win-win agreement for both sides and this was a cooperative effort from the beginning and something that we both wanted to accomplish.
I'm very excited to say we were able to do this.

Q. Where did it rank on your priority list of things you wanted to get done before the new year?

ROBERT KUSTRA: Clearly we have been working on this for a few months, and this was absolutely a top priority for Boise State University, to be affiliated, and standing alongside Chris Petersen is just a great accomplishment.

He has done a great job here at Boise State, one of the finest football coaches in the nation. His team -- you all know his team. It has built character. It has taught leadership. He has shared values, the kind of values we all believe in and respect.

In addition to all his coaching abilities, Coach Patterson has been an incredible supporter of Boise State University as a university. He's placed emphasis on academic priorities, not only for his student-athletes but for the entire University.

To have somebody like this as a team player continuing on here in this key leadership role is an awfully important thing for Boise State University as we take this university to the next level.

Q. Pete, what were you looking for here? Why did you decide to do this?

COACH PETERSEN: Well, you know, I would just like to say how appreciative I am to Dr. Kustra, Gene, to have this opportunity to stay here as long as possible.

You know, I think the one thing is, we have been talking about this for a while, working this out. I think they said it best, I don't think about it just for me. I think about it for our coaches as well.

And so I think that the longer we can keep our crew intact, the better for Boise State, and I'm just so appreciative with everything they've done for our program, my family, our staff.

The one thing is we are excited to get this message out. We don't want this to take away too much from the reason that we're here, from this great experience, to make this about this contract or anything like that. But we are so appreciative and very humbled by the whole situation.

Q. You said you agreed on it a week ago. It is a pretty sweet Christmas present then?

COACH PETERSEN: No question. I really feel, like I said, I'm blessed to be here and appreciative.

Q. Did you look into any other opportunities this year at all?

COACH PETERSEN: No, no, really haven't. These things are kind of hard as the season is going on because you are so focused on the task at hand.
These guys have done such a nice job of making it as doable and as easy as these processes. They can be tough processes. And they have been more than generous and very great to work with.

Q. You mentioned your staff. Did you negotiate some way that they will be taken care of as part of this?

COACH PETERSEN: There is some give and take in the whole contract, without question. You know, I mean, there's -- every place has their ceiling on what people can do.
We understand that at Boise State. But we also understand what a special place it is and what great people we work with. I think it's a win-win for all sides involved.

Q. Gene, how important is it to have Coach Pete locked up and make some of those rumors go away now?

GENE BLEYMAIER: It is a number one priority. It is critical. The recruiting season is in high gear right now, and we don't want any questions about who's going to be heading up this program, not only at the top but with the whole staff.
And we did address the assistant coaches in this negotiation and we want to keep this whole team together, because as Coach Pete has always said, it is not about one person or two people or whatever. It takes a lot of people in the program, in the coaching staff, in the training room, the equipment room, the medical staff, you name it, to make a successful program.
We want to make sure that stays as intact as possible.

Q. Did anyone contact you for permission to talk to Coach Pete?

GENE BLEYMAIER: This year? (Smiling).

Q. 2009.

GENE BLEYMAIER: Not this year (laughter). No, not recently. They don't have to. It is pretty obvious that people are interested in Coach Pete any time there is a job opening. We would be very naive to think that he's not under consideration.
We know that he's under consideration for probably every opening that there is in the country. That's why this announcement is so important to us and to our program.

Q. Obviously there is maybe an issue with Pete's. Are you expecting the rest of those guys to be back with what you have done here?

COACH PETERSEN: You never know how these things go. I think it is a nervous time of year for everybody. It is a nervous time of year for administrators. It is a nervous time of year for me, for our coaches. It is a nervous time of year because of our recruits. It is just that time of the year. I know this.

We got a great situation at Boise State. If we lose a guy to a situation that's better for him and his family, we are all good with that, but it is going to be a really good situation because I think we are all in a good situation as we sit.

Q. How nice is it to have this behind you before Monday and not to have to deal with it?

COACH PETERSEN: No question. That's why we wanted to talk about it and put it behind us. It is all about this game and these players and all the things that they've done to help get us here.

Q. You have only lost one guy to an NFL team. How important has that been?

COACH PETERSEN: I think it is because of Dr. Kustra and Gene Bleymaier and the foundation they have made and the funds and the money they are able to pay the assistant coaches. They are appreciative of the situation that they're in and that we're in. There is no question about it. For them to go to another place, I mean, you know, it's going to have to be somewhere special.

Q. Gene, you said give and take with the contract. How difficult is it to put something like this together given the fund-raising challenges with the athletic department?

GENE BLEYMAIER: Well, this process was as smooth as I have ever been through and it is a credit to Coach Pete. I think the great thing about Pete and his staff is they want to be here. They understand -- I think that the President and I are doing everything that we can with Bronco Nation to keep this thing going and to keep this coaching staff together.

They understand that, and I think in any situation that's all you can really ask for, is people giving it their best shot.

Q. Are there any specific clauses in the contract that allow guys to leave?

COACH PETERSEN: I think that goes without saying if you don't win enough games. (Laughter).

GENE BLEYMAIER: Yeah, there's the usual clauses. Since they outlawed slavery -- (smiling) -- we can't force anybody to work for the university, as much as I would like that.

Again, I would like to end again by just thanking the Fiesta Bowl and the reason that we're here in this great city at this great event, this is an experience of a lifetime for our program and for our players.

There's not a better Bowl in the country, bar none, than the Fiesta Bowl and the hospitality and the class with how this whole week is run and everything surrounding this event on Monday night is nothing but the best. And please know how appreciative all of us are for being here, the honor to represent our University in this championship.

End of FastScripts

Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge top prize 
won by Challenge Charter School Glendale Arizona
Photos and article by  Ed and Bette Sharpe -  Glendale Daily Planet    IN PROGRESS!

Congratulations to  the winning team and all the  contestants on work well done!

The Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge presented by The Arizona Republic featuring Microsoft Mission Control has quickly become one of Arizona's premier academic contests for youth. Designed to enhance knowledge of space technology for fifth through eighth grade students, the Aerospace Challenge requires participants to develop plans for an International Lunar Base complete with a physical scale model. By working in groups, participants are encouraged to develop critical problem-solving, communication, team-building and decision-making skills while expanding their knowledge in subject areas such as math, science, social studies, language and fine arts.

SIX TEAMS SET TO PRESENT LUNAR BASES IN FINALS OF THE HONEYWELL FIESTA BOWL AEROSPACE CHALLENGE PRESENTED BY THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC FEATURING MICROSOFT MISSION CONTROL

A science competition for 5th-8th graders. 
Build an International Lunar Base and win a trip to NASA in Houston!

By Ed and Bette Sharpe Glendale Daily Planet

GLENDALE, Ariz. - The 11th Annual Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge presented by The Arizona Republic featuring Microsoft Mission Control preliminaries brought in  100o students to compete at Arizona State University at the West Campus. 

The finalists were then selected. The competition took a slightly different approach this year as competitors were asked to create and present designs for International Lunar Base models as opposed to the International Space Stations in previous years.

This event is open to  fifth through eighth grade students,  

Each finalist team  received a plaque and a mission at the Challenger Space Center that may be used by the team’s entire class.

The six finalists that were chosen out of more than 230 participating teams from 55 schools throughout the state will present their projects to a panel of NASA astronauts and Honeywell engineers in the final competition, which will be held on December 31, at the Challenger Space Center in Peoria. The first place team will be awarded a VIP, behind-the-scenes tour of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, for an exclusive look at NASA facilities. The winning team received tickets and will be recognized during an on-field presentation at the 39th Annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Monday, January 4, 2010.

Judges comprised of engineers  and scientists from 
Honeywell questioned contestants in the finals

The finalists were selected by a panel of 80 judges comprised of engineers from Honeywell that evaluated models on categories such as lunar base detail, basic design, society and living condition. Projects were required to include explanations of how to sustain a crew of up to 40 people for two years.

The primary mission of the Lunar Base is to provide a future launch site and structure for a mission to Mars. The students' projects detail how they will create effective ways of mining, processing and storing rocket fuel. Teams were also required to develop a secondary mission of creating a lunar tourism plan or creating a plan for robotics.

New records were set - With more than 1,000 students in attendance  at the preliminaries from across the state it heralded a new  record for this event. 

But now... we go on to the finals - and... here are the  teams!

Aerospace Challenge Finalists

Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge presented by the 
Arizona Republic featuring Microsoft Mission Control FINALISTS

Altadena Middle School

Teacher: Ms. Joshu
City: Phoenix
Students: Stephen Gerrish, Alex Burton, Joseph Chen, Varun Guptay, Rajeev Parvathala

Challenge Charter School

Teacher: Ms. Meghan Sheehan & Mr. Jeff Whitfill
City: Glendale
Students: , Elijah Cox, William Beech, Jacob Garza, Joleen Shiroma, 

Tri-City Christian Academy

Teacher: Mr. Trogen
City: Chandler
Students: Margaret Towers, Kayce Wells, Jeremy Tetreau, D.J. Bryant, Triston Hudson

Basis Scottsdale

Teacher: Mr. Stratton
City: Scottsdale
Students: Harrison Stratton, Thomas Marks, Lukas Kuhnel, Gautan Iyer, Ryan Smith

Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies

Teacher: Mrs. Klingaman & Ms. Letterman
City: Mesa
Students: Mariel Letterman, Diane Monge, Peri MacFarlane, Lauren Hawks, Catrina Letterman

Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies

Teacher: Ms. Merlene
City: Mesa
Students: Elliot Smith, Kennedy Prock, Christopher Finlay, Andrew Roberts

Pt. 2  -  THE FINALS AT CHALLENGER SPACE CENTER PEORIA AZFinals
Time: 9:00 a.m. - Noon
Location: Challenger Space Center
City: Peoria, AZ
Date: Thursday, December 31, 2009

Judges comprised of engineers  and scientists from 
Honeywell questioned contestants in the finals

The 11th annual Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge Finals concluded after the teams went  though hours of presentations  to the panel of judges and the final winner was chosen.... and...

"Houston, here we come!" was Jake Garza, 11, exclamation after descending from the stage.

NASA's Newest, the Challenge Charter School team from Glendale AZ, and lucky team members, Jake Garza and his teammates Elijah Cox, William Beech and Joleen Shiroma,   are  the lucky group of 6th-graders  to visit Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas.

The  team was Challenge Charter schools first time entering the  Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge.

In addition to a VIP trip to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, the students will be presented to the public  during a field event  Monday at the 39th annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

The  Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge,  open to grades 5 though 8, consists of designing an international lunar base,  with a scale model and research to back up their design. The team must also be able to defend the design and research in a question and answer period following an oral presentation to Honeywell scientists and engineers that judge the  students endeavors.

The purpose of the  model base was to  provide a future launch site to Mars. The Base had to house 40 personnel for 2 years and process and store rocket fuel that would be used  for a Mars mission.

 Meghan Sheehan, a sixth-grade teacher and one of the team's coaches stated.  "I couldn't he more proud of their hard and for seeing it through."

Jeff Whitfill, an IT manager at the school who also served as a coach, said the "Youngsters did a great job representing their school."

All present noticed Ms. Sheehan  beaming!  The joy showing on her face, said it all--how proud she was of her 6th grade students.  When she first asked if any 5th or 6th grade students  were interested in participating in the Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge, "... this group of four completed their statement of commitment right away and stayed on project until the very end.  They knew what they wanted to do."

Ms. Sheehan stated "The number of hours the student’s put into their projects is close to a hundred or more.  This work is in addition to their regular assignments.  A tough challenge for some, but not for NASA's Newest."

She told us that  "... it was Challenge Charter School’s first year participating the Aerospace Challenge, but after today’s win, they will probably have a team in next year’s competition."  Ms. Sheen is sure "that William, Jake, Joleen and Eli will succeed in whatever field they choose to study."

 
ASA’s Newest consisting of  Joleen Shiroma, Eli Cox, William Beech  Jake Garza.
All the participants in this  team are 11 years old and attend  sixth grade at Challenge Charter School in Glendale AZ.

Joleen Shiroma said it was "nerve-racking when they took the stage", and she was. " Nervous, of course.  But, since we spent a lot of hours preparing, we were all fine once we got started.  We were more anxious waiting for them to announce the winner."

Eli Cox agrees with the  nerve racking part , "but once Joleen handed me the microphone, I felt more confident. "

Joleen Shiroma said , "Since this was our first year in the competition, we were just very happy to be in the finals.  Everyone’s first thought that came to mind was, “Can you repeat that?”  We were so astonished that we couldn’t believe our ears.  When I saw everyone looking toward us, I double-checked to verify if they were referring to the other groups sitting near us."  

Jake Garza said there was hard work but there was humor too! "We went to school on a lot of days when school was closed to work on our model and get ready for the questions. My parents had to drive me around late at night to make sure we were all ready. All the parents came in a couple of times to ask us hard questions and we seemed like we knew what to say already. The fun part was that our parents sometimes didn't know if we were right or wrong because they didn't really know the answers anyway. So that was funny."

Honeywell scientists and engineers,  people in the audience, guest speaker Congressman Trent Franks and Fiesta Bowl staff were all impressed by all of the 6 teams presentations  how much research the students had done.

((((see note and quotes section to select other quotes if needed)))))

---------------------

The Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge presented by The Arizona Republic featuring Microsoft Mission Control remains one of the premiere academic contests in the Valley for students and teachers, is designed to promote knowledge of space and science technology through the development of an International Lunar Base.

Lynn Ashton, Aerospace Challenge chairman and Guest speaker Congressman Trent Franks, 2nd Congressional District of Arizona

Lynn Ashton, Aerospace Challenge chairman and Guest speaker Congressman Trent Franks, 2nd Congressional District of Arizona

Guest speaker Congressman Trent Franks, 2nd Congressional District of Arizona with the winning team:
 NASA’s Newest consisting of Eli Cox, Joleen Shiroma, Jake Garza, and William Beech.
All the participants in this  team are 11 years old and attend  sixth grade at Challenge Charter School in Glendale AZ.

Aerospace Challenge Finalists

Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge presented by the 
Arizona Republic featuring Microsoft Mission Control FINALISTS

Altadena Middle School

Teacher: Ms. Joshu
City: Phoenix
Students: Stephen Gerrish, Alex Burton, Joseph Chen, Varun Guptay, Rajeev Parvathala

Challenge Charter School

Teacher: Ms. Sheehan & Mr. Whitfill
City: Glendale
Students: Meghan Sheehan, Elijah Cox, William Beech, Jacob Garza, Joleen Shiroma, Jeff Whitfill

Tri-City Christian Academy

Teacher: Mr. Trogen
City: Chandler
Students: Margaret Towers, Kayce Wells, Jeremy Tetreau, D.J. Bryant, Triston Hudson

Basis Scottsdale

Teacher: Mr. Stratton
City: Scottsdale
Students: Harrison Stratton, Thomas Marks, Lukas Kuhnel, Gautan Iyer, Ryan Smith

Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies

Teacher: Mrs. Klingaman & Ms. Letterman
City: Mesa
Students: Mariel Letterman, Diane Monge, Peri MacFarlane, Lauren Hawks, Catrina Letterman

Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies

Teacher: Ms. Merlene
City: Mesa
Students: Elliot Smith, Kennedy Prock, Christopher Finlay, Andrew Roberts

To see the forms and rules that this even was guided by check out: http://www.fiestabowl.org/index.php/aerospace/team_resources/ 

November 17, 2009 – Coaches Meeting, 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

“Last time the Eagle was just a guest, now it’s back to build its nest.” 

NASA’s Newest Mission Patch (Described by Joleen Shiroma,  who drew it.)

Bald Eagle

· Represents our school (Challenge Charter Eagles)

· Our country’s national bird

· Represents the Altair (Latin for eagle), a piece of the Ares V rocket that was an essential part in our mission to arrive on the Moon

Four Astronauts

· Represent our four team members

· The excitement of the astronauts being on the moon symbolizes the excitement of us when we win the Aerospace challenge

Flag

· Instead of using America’s traditional flag, we decided to create our own flag representing our team: NASA’s Newest

Lunar Station in the Background

· Symbolizing our basic mission to build a base on the Moon

Craters

· The small craters represent our location: Shackleton Crater

Motto

· “Last time the Eagle was just a guest, now it’s back to build its nest.” 

· Last time the Eagle was just a guest = means previous Apollo mission to the Moon were just used to study and observe it

· Now it’s back to build its nest = means that by building Lunar Station Artemis, humans are now ready to inhabit the Moon

Presenting: The winning team going by the name:  NASA’s Newest are, 6th graders and are 11 years old

Front row from left to right: Scott D. Altman (Captain, USN Ret.), Andrew J. Feustel PhD, William Beech, Jake Garza, Joleen Shiroma, Eli Cox, Gregorry C. Johnson (Captain USN Ret.), and Michael T. Good (Colonel, USAF) .  Back row: Mr. Whitfill (IT Manager) Challenge Charter School and Ms. Meghan Sheehan (6th Grade Science and Math Teacher) Challenge Charter School.

(Back)   Coach Meghan Sheehan,  students Jake Garza and Joleen Shiroma and Coach Jeff Whitfill (Front)  Eli Cox (left) and William Beech  (right).

Joleen Shiroma  notes and quotes

Joleen Shiroma told  us "I smiled so much and had so many pictures taken, my jaw hurts!" she continued "Thank you Principal Miller for introducing the Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge to us and allowing us to represent Challenge Charter School."

Joleen expressed "Thank you to Jake, William and Eli for a job well done.  And special thanks to Ms. Sheehan and Mr. Whitfill (and of course, our parents and family members) for all your support and in believing in us." 

and  a short summation by Joleen was "What an incredible journey!"

Sharpe -  what was your first thought when you heard the words you had won? 

1.   Joleen -  OMG!  Since this was our first year in the competition, we were just very happy to be in the finals.  Everyone’s first thought that came to mind was, “Can you repeat that?”  We were so astonished that we couldn’t believe our ears.  When I saw everyone looking toward us, I double-checked to verify if they were referring to the other groups sitting near us.  But now we finally get to say, “Houston, here we come!”

Sharpe -  do you plan a future in aerospace? if so which part of it? 

2.  Joleen - No.  But, I walked away with a greater appreciation of aerospace.

Sharpe -  was there a point you felt the team hit a snag during the building of the project.?

 3.   Joleen -  Not really.  Although my team members and I really wanted to jump in and start building our lunar base immediately, we all knew that research was key.  I believe this is why we were able to help each other answer the questions when we felt something was left out.

Sharpe - what were your feelings when you were in front of the entire group of judges....  elaborate... 

 4.   Joleen -  Nervous, of course.  But, since we spent a lot of hours preparing, we were all fine once we got started.  We were more anxious waiting for them to announce the winner.

When asked why he wanted to participate in this competition,  Joleen Shiroma tell us, "At first, I thought all of my friends were going to participate.  When I found out only three other people signed up and I was the only girl, I had my doubts.  I knew it was going to be a lot of hard work and a huge commitment.  But, I love a good challenge.  Plus, I felt very comfortable with Jake, William and Eli as my teammates as we were all good friends before this competition started.  Now, they are like brothers to me.  Being one of the shyest of the group, I knew I my teammates could help me come out of my shell.  I always knew that I had special talents and skills to offer the team.  It was an awesome learning experience and I am glad that I went for it."

  Eli Cox notes and quotes

Jake Garza notes and quotes

Sharpe -  what was your first thought when you heard the words you had won? 

Jake  - At first I didn't know if they called us to the stage because we won first place or because we got last place. I was so happy when they they said 'Congratulations'

Sharpe -  do you plan a future in aerospace? if so which part of it? 

Jake  - I don't really plan on aerospace for my future but I know I like science and math - so we'll see.

Sharpe -  was there a point you felt the team hit a snag during the building of the project.?

Jake  - Being in front of the judges was nerve wracking. While we were setting up my brain was going so fast. Then once we started I settled down and then when they started asking questions, I felt even better. It seemed like we were able to answer their questions and that's when I started to feel confident.

Sharpe - what were your feelings when you were in front of the entire group of judges....  elaborate... 

Jake  - It was a lot of fun. A lot of work, but a lot of fun. Definitely worth it.

------------------------

When asked why he wanted to participate in this competition, Jake Garza tells us "I always like competitions that are about school. I love my school and the teachers Ms. Sheehan and Mr. Whitfill explained how hard it was going to be and that's when I knew I wanted to do it. I knew we could do it because Joleen, William, Eli and I are really good friends and we can be a good team.

We went to school on a lot of days when school was closed to work on our model and get ready for the questions. My parents had to drive me around late at night to make sure we were all ready. All the parents came in a couple of times to ask us hard questions and we seemed like we knew what to say already. The fun part was that our parents sometimes didn't know if we were right or wrong because they didn't really know the answers anyway. So that was funny."

Wendy Miller, Principal at Challenge  Charter School notes and quotes

Challenge Charter School (CCS) was founded in 1996 by Greg & Pam Miller. Greg & Pam were the 2008 Arizona Charter School Association's Charter School Leaders of the Year for their activism and perseverance on behalf of Arizona youth and education reform nationwide. Greg & Pam are my parents. I was swept up by their passion and the revolutionary things that were happening at CCS and joined the team ten years ago. This is my second year as Principal.

I am fortunate to be part of such a unique collaboration of devoted parents, innovative educators, and incredible kids! The dedication of the students, team, and the visionary leadership of the Millers has led to many accomplishments. CCS was AZ's first official Core Knowledge School: an integrated, sequential curriculum developing high critical thinking skills and rich in science and social studies. Mr. Miller was inducted into AZ's Circle of Honor Principals (top 1% of all AZ Principals) and recognized by the Center for Education Reform in D.C. as 1 of 13 National School Leaders Who Perform. In 2007, CCS was named a CER National Charter School of the Year, a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education, and a Phoenix Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year award recipient in the category of Response to Adversity. CCS has been labeled an Excelling school by the Arizona Department of Education for five years.

This is the first year that our students have competed in the Honeywell Aerospace Challenge. The CCS NASA's Newest team is such a special group of kids! They have a rare and exceptional team energy and impressed us all with their ability to reason through processes and alternatives together. They overcame many challenges and supported each other in relying on their individual strengths. I could not be any happier for them and their supportive parents and coaches! Their hard work has truly been rewarded and we are so appreciative of the opportunity to compete in such an exceptional program.

At CCS, we have a science and technology overlay to our curriculum and each year the kids participate in a science fair. They have to defend their projects and explain their outcomes to many professional judges that volunteer from the community. I think this helped our team in facing the tough Honeywell judges and answering such complex questions about how the astronauts would survive on their lunar base model. We were impressed by the hard work and dynamic presentations of all of the finalists.

 Their name is NASA’s Newest.  This is the display they brought to the competition at the Challenger Space Center.

The team named the base  Lunar Station Artemis after the Greek Goddess of the moon. 

The  teams motto is “Last time the Eagle was just a guest, now it’s back to build its nest.”  This is in reference to the Apollo landing craft which was known as “the Eagle”.  Our school mascot is also the eagle.

Challenge Charter School is an excelling kindergarten through 6th grade school located at 5801 W. Greenbriar Dr. in Glendale, AZ. This is the first year Challenge Charter School has participated in the Aerospace Challenge.

Some quotes from the kids:

Eli Cox – “This was a fun and educational experience that was worth all of the time we put in.”

William Beech – “I’m speechless, it was spectacular.”

Jake Garza – “It was a good learning experience and I enjoyed working on it with my friends.”

The winning essay in the  Aerospace  essay contest was  

Proud to be an American

By: Kennedy Prock

Mesa Academy

http://www.fiestabowl.org/images/uploads/Kennedy_Prock_Winning_Student_Reporter.pdf

39th Annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
Arrival Press Conference
Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport
Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Texas Christian University Head Coach Gary Patterson

Opening Statement
You probably think we have been waiting three weeks to get here. I’ve been waiting 12 years at TCU. Let me
just say from everybody back in Ft. Worth, we want to thank the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, John Junker and
everybody here that’s been a part of it. It’s been a long stretch for us. Twelve years ago people said this couldn’t
be done. When we came to TCU, they were 1-10. We’ve worked ourselves up the ladder. We came here to try
to give you a great ball game. We know we have a great opponent. I know a lot has been said, and I’m one of
those guys that reads a lot. Chris (Petersen) was actually a quarterback when I was a linebacker coach at UCDavis.
Him and I go way back. You can never trust those offensive guys. We have a lot of admiration for Boise
State. We have a lot of admiration for what they do and how they’ve done it. The combined records between the
two schools is 48-3 in the last two years. So on behalf of our chancellor, our football team, the university and
the fans, which I think you will love the people in purple when they get here. You’re going to love them
because wherever they go they have a lot of class, they spend a lot of money and you are going to like how they
do things. Words can’t tell you how excited we are about being here. I brought the guys back early because I
wanted to make sure we got in great practices before we came here. So we got back to the way we played when
we played at Utah because we know we’re going to have to play that way to have a chance against a great Boise
State team. No. 3 or 4 against the No. 5, what else can you ask for?

About Andy Dalton’s improvement at quarterback
We’re very fortunate. Three years ago, we had a senior quarterback by the name of Chad Huffman that left for
Major League Baseball for about $900,000. He left this redshirt-freshman quarterback by the name of Andy
Dalton to start against Texas. That didn’t turn out really well back then. Because of all of the growth we were
able to do in the season that he played, what Andy has done is grown up and became our leader. Not just on
offense, but on the whole football team. And he has really changed the face of TCU football. We’ve been
known for defense. We broke every scoring record that we possibly could, even though we have done that the
last three out of four years here at TCU. He’s a leader. It used to be where he asked for people to do things.
Now, he demands it. That’s what leaders do. He’s been a difference in our football team.

About his relationship with Boise State head coach Chris Petersen
He hasn’t changed. He was a winner as a quarterback and he is a winner as a coach. He’s always been under
control and played with confidence. He’s a guy that I’ve always admired. He’s a family man. He’s a good
football coach. He does things the right way. Boise (State) is very lucky they have a Chris Petersen at the helm
because I think he leads in the right manner. He was the runner-up to the Harlon Hill (Award) if I remember
right when he was quarterback, which is the best player in Division II. We went to the playoffs and we got beat
out early. But Chris was always a guy that kept things positive. Obviously, through the years he has grown up to
become a great head football coach.

About the team’s newfound respect after being invited to a BCS bowl
No. 1, probably the biggest hurdle we had to get over recruiting-wise at TCU was that automatic qualifying
conferences said, “You don’t want to go to TCU because you will never play for a national championship and
you’ll never get to a BCS bowl.” No longer is that hurdle there. Thanks to the Fiesta Bowl we’re able to do
some things and we’re able to get into some homes that maybe even three weeks ago we weren’t able to do. On
a national stage, I don’t know if you can even put it into words what it has been able to do for us. The thing that
I like most about our football team, and what America has seen, that not only have we won but that we played
very hard and we played with a lot of class. That’s what we’re going to try to do on the fourth, to make sure that
the Fiesta Bowl made a great choice. You’ve got two great football teams. Who knows who is going to win this
game? The last time we got together a year ago it was 17-16. I don’t know if it is going to be 52-51 or 17-16,
but you know this much – both football teams know how to win. Both football teams have a lot of class. Both
football teams are very physical. And they are going to give you a great ballgame because both of them want to
be here. I can tell you right now that when they asked me, if I had a choice, this is where I wanted to go. And
Boise (State) was the team I wanted to play. You want to play the best. I think both Boise (State) and TCU are
automatic qualifying schools. I think we both belong and there are a few others. I think the Fiesta Bowl made
great choices in picking two teams. And I think you’ll find that both teams really want to be here. Both teams
are going to give you everything they have. We’re going to be excited about the fourth and getting out on the
field.

About people alluding to the Fiesta Bowl as a championship game because you have two undefeated teams
In this day and age of college football it’s really hard to be undefeated. I don’t care what conference you play in
and how you do it and how you go about it. The level of competition in Division I football now is so close and
such a fine line. It’s a very fine line between the penthouse and the outhouse. You have to get yourself ready to
go and understand that it is really hard to get to this point. Boise (State) has done that in the past. This is the first
time TCU has done that since 1935 and 1938. So, it’s been a long time. If you look at the amount of teams that
played in BCS games from different conferences and it’s a very small group. We’re very honored that we’re a
part of it. But being undefeated is a special thing. When you get a team together and get a chance to do that, you
not only have to be good but you have to have a great work ethic. But you have to be a little bit lucky because
you have to get a couple of bounces. We’ve come so close three or four times in the last couple of years to be at
this point. I’ve always come back to John (Junker) at the Fiesta Frolic and I’ve said, “We’re this close.”
Everybody said you should be disappointed because you’re not playing for the national championship. No,
we’re playing Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. And if you ask anybody in the country this group does the greatest
job in hospitality and putting on a bowl of anybody that is out there. You’re going to find out from our kids, our
players and our staff, and our alumni and our fans that we’re going to be in full force and we’re going to be glad
that we are here.

About coaching in a BCS bowl game after a long coaching career
If you looked at my resume you can see that I came the low-road. I’ve been at UC-Davis. I’ve been at the
Sonoma States. In 27 years early in my career, I had 11 different stops before I’ve been here now. For me, this
is a dream come true. You’ve always watched TV. All coaches down deep are fans. I’ve watched the Fiesta
Bowl and when they were the representative of the national championship game and know that a lot of great
teams have come before us. That’s the way we want to be remembered. When we leave the state of Arizona, we
want to be remembered that they were glad that TCU was there.

About TCU’s offense this year
Let me just back up about our offense. We could have scored a lot more points this year. One of the things that
I’ve always felt like in this game, and you only have about 120 head coaches, is that you have to have class.
We’ve had a few ballgames where we backed off a bit. I think we only threw 35 passes in the fourth quarter in
the last five or six ballgames. Our offense has been balanced. I believe if you want to win ballgames you have
to shorten the game. Even though it is easier to call defenses if you are scoring a lot of points. We always want
to be around 50-50, 200-200 (yards offense) or 220-220 (yards offense) to be good at what we do. We’re just
very fortunate this year because we had so many kids returning. We ended up having two redshirt freshmen
running backs, Matthew Tucker and Ed Wesley, that came on and gave us a three-man rotation at running back.
And then we had all of our wide receivers grow up. We don’t have any seniors this year. A lot like Boise
(State), which they don’t have many seniors. I actually challenged our offense in the spring. We went back and
changed how we called formations so we get the ball in the likes of Jeremy Kerley. We used to be a one wide
receiver offense, where we would run the football and then we would have a go-to guy. We found out that
people could really hone in on that. You can’t always win with great defense, and we came very close. We had
to spread it out and had to get the ball in the hands of other guys. We’re very fortunate that we have some guys
that we can do that with.

About how the Mountain West Conference teams have fared in bowl games this year
Beside the Mountain West, two other teams that we played both SMU and Clemson, all five have won their
bowl games. But as far as the Mountain West is concerned, we have been growing. I’m not one to get on a

39th Annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
Arrival Press Conference
Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport
Monday, December 27, 2009

Boise State Head Coach Chris Petersen

Opening Statement
We would like to thank the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl from the bottom of our heart for inviting us back here. We had
one of the most memorable times, certainly of our football careers, here a few years ago. I’m not necessarily
just talking about the game, I’m talking about the whole week of the experiences and the festivities we had.
We’re so excited for our players because we have so many new ones here that haven’t been here in the past. We
just really feel so strongly about life experiences in this college experience and anything we can do to further
those educational experiences for our guys. This is one of the best we ever had. We’re excited to be playing a
tremendous TCU team. I think everybody in the country has the utmost respect for those guys. And it’s no
different for the Broncos. It will be a tremendous challenge for us to play up to their level. But I think our guys
are anxious for the challenge. We would like to thank you guys for this weather. And I’m serious. I had a big ol’
coat on when we left and no coat now. We’re excited for this week and we really appreciate John Junker, Alan
Young and the whole Fiesta Bowl committee for inviting us back. We plan to make good use of our time here.

About playing in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl this week compared to a few years ago
I think from our staff standpoint, it feels a little more comfortable because we know the routine for the most
part. Coming in last time, nobody knew anything. Most of our staff had never been to a bowl game. So now, we
know the hotel we’re staying in. We know that Starbucks is across the street. We know where the practice
facility is. Those types of things ease some of the burden. I think for our players, we have so few of them back
that their eyes are wide open. And that’s a good thing. It’s one of those experiences they will appreciate as the
week goes on.

About being on track for the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 4
We hope so. That’s one of the reasons why we came in a day earlier to try to get our guys back. We were in the
midst of preparation and then we had to let them go for about four or five days. We felt like bringing them back
this evening, getting a practice in tomorrow and kind of get our legs under us. And then give them some time
off to regroup and catch our breath and watch some tape and then really hit it again will be the best plan we
could come up with.

About if any players did not make the trip
We have three young guys that didn’t make the trip. We kind of say it’s not meeting the Broncos standards. We
don’t say why. They just didn’t meet the standards that we kind of try to live by. We will release those (names)
through Max here shortly.

About being an underdog heading into the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl again
It seems like that’s the role we take on often when we play outside of our league. It’s one we are used to. I don’t
know if we played, since I’ve been here, a team that is as good as TCU and that is ranked as high. We’ve never
played a team that is ranked this high. We’ve played some ranked teams, but the one thing that is different is
being ranked as high as TCU this late in the season. I think that gives more credibility to the ranking. I think
everybody that has put the tape on and watched it, I think that is why there is so much talk that maybe TCU
should be playing in the national championship game. We see the same things. So our guys and our coaches
certainly know this is the biggest challenge that we’ve seen in a long, long time. That is why I say we are going
to have to play our best to hang in the game with these guys.

About any injuries on the team
We’re still making progress on that. Austin Pettis, our receiver, will still be a game-time decision. He’s right on
track with what the doctors have hoped but he’s not there yet. We haven’t seen him for a few days either. And
then we think the other guys that we suspected we would get back should be back unless we have any setbacks.
We’ve kind of been one of those teams that the injury bug has hit us pretty good. It’s not one of those things
that sets you back for a week or two. It seems to be that we get a guy hurt and he is done for the season.
Hopefully, we can make it to the game with the guys that we are counting on so far.