Glendora students recognized as Mission 21 team; experiment on probiotics proposed for spaceflight

The Glendora Unified Board of Education recognized a Glendora High School student team on March 9 whose Mission 21 experiment — designed to study growth of Lactobacillus rhamnosus in microgravity — was presented to trustees and guests.

Daniela Castro Kent introduced the team and said the Mission 21 project, supported by the Glendora Education Foundation, allows AP Chemistry students to design original experiments for possible flight to the International Space Station. "Our mission 21 team is comprised of Kiana Tajiki, Rachel Wu, Catherine Vinn and Carrie Raulehi," Kent said, and introduced the students who explained their protocol for mixing probiotic powder, culture broth and water in staged vials and later terminating growth to measure concentration changes in parts per million.

Student team members described their testing plan: one vial mixes probiotic and broth on day one, a second vial adds water and is left to incubate, and a later vial introduces formula to terminate growth before the sample is returned to Glendora High School for ppm measurement compared with an Earth control. "When there is more lactobacillus, the parts-per-million reading decreases," Catherine Vinn said, explaining how bacterial consumption affects measured concentration.

Trustees and the superintendent praised the students and acknowledged the Glendora Education Foundation's support. The board also announced winners of a district coloring and patch-design contest tied to the Mission 21 activity; Victoria Fragoso (8th grade) and Nicolette Martin (12th grade) were named patch winners, and Aislin Garcia, Jaden Tran and Ajax Lang were recognized in the younger-art category.

The board highlighted district partnerships and thanked foundation leaders Daniel Boyer (president) and Priti Patel (executive director) for funding the program, and took a group photo to honor the team.

Next steps: The students said the team will make the presentation materials public and post the slideshow for the community; district staff said they will share the live presentation and further updates if the flight selection is finalized.