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WKCTC's Challenger Learning Center Celebrates 15 Years With Birthday Party

MEDIA RELEASE: Paducah, KY (10/20/2017) — More than 100 young Challenger Learning Center camp-goers and their families, and faculty, staff, and supporters from West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC) celebrated the Challenger Learning Center at Paducah's 15th birthday October 19.

"This was a big day for us. We are thrilled to have such great response for our birthday celebration," said Mellisa Duncan, Challenger Learning Center director. "We've enjoyed cake, ice cream, punch and shard wonderful memories of our successes over the last 15 years."

Paducah's Challenger Center opened its doors in 2002, and as part of a network of over 40 Challenger Centers across the country, honors the seven crew members who died in the 1886 Challenger Shuttle accident, including Payload Specialist Christa McAuliffe, who would have been the first teacher in space. The center, located on the WKCTC campus, has reached more than 100,000 children and adults with STEM programming in its 15 years in operation.

"We are proud to be a part of the Challenger Centers' mission to provide students quality, hands-on science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) experiences that inspire them to pursue STEM careers," said Duncan. "Thirty-one years after the accident and fifteen years after we opened, we are still continuing the educational mission of the Challenger crew by providing unique STEM experiences for our current generation."

For more information about the center's programming call (270) 534-3101 or visit the Challenger Center website at http://clcpaducah.org/

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West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC) has been recognized four consecutive times by The Aspen Institute as one of the top 10 community colleges in the nation for providing students with strong job training and continuing higher education opportunity, for achieving high completion and transfer rates, and for providing strong employment results for its graduates.

Media Attachments

West Kentucky Community & Technical College employees Greta Henry, program coordinator for the Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education program (IECE), Amy Sullivan, director of library services, and Carol Driver, user services librarian, were among more than 100 guests who recently celebrated 15 years of operation for the Challenger Learning Center at WKCTC.

Young and old enjoyed the 15th-anniversary birthday party for the Challenger Learning Center at WKCTC October 19.

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