5th graders will play a role in the final launch of the space shuttle Endeavor

Wilmington, Delaware, April 4, 2011 – 5th grade enrichment students at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in Newark have teamed up with Delaware AeroSpace Education Foundation (DASEF) in a unique competition. The students spent the day playing the popular You’ve been Sentenced! word game using special space-themed words from the game’s new NASA Space Terminology add-on deck. The most creative sentence will be chosen by DASEF to be used as part of the webcast of the final launch of the space shuttle Endeavor.

During the launch’s webcast, the game’s inventor, Donald McNeill, will explain to viewers and the astronauts themselves how to play the game. He will also use the winning Thurgood Marshall sentence as an example. The students will be tuned in on launch day, April 19, to find out whose sentence was chosen.

Enrichment instructor Nancy Ventresca explains, “The students are so excited to have a small piece of history during this special launch. Our students were members of the DASEF, Launching a Dream Program two years ago and the whole school got caught up in the excitement of the program. Our team of astronauts won the Hubble Telescope Challenge Award that year and the enthusiasm for learning about space has continued.

That same childhood enthusiasm for space exploration is, in fact, what led to the game’s creation. As a child in the 1960’s and 1970’s, game inventor Donald McNeill grew up in El Lago Keys Estates Houston, Texas -- home to many of the pioneers of NASA’s space program. For example, the first man on the moon Neil Armstrong (Gemini 8, Apollo 11) lived just up the street, neighbor Ron Evans (Apollo 17) lived a block away, and Fred Haise (Apollo 13) was quite literally just next door.

And on April 19, McNeill will be able to make his own personal mark on the space program during the webcast of the STS-134 launch of the space shuttle Endeavor. This is a historic mission not because it is the final launch for Endeavor, but because the mission will be commanded by Mark Kelly, husband of Senator Gabby Gifford of Arizona, who was wounded in a tragic shooting earlier this year.

For more information, please contact the Delaware AeroSpace Education Foundation founder Dr. Stephanie Wright at (302) 659-5003 or visit http://www.dasef.org/

Founded in 2004, McNeill Designs for Brighter Minds quickly gained attention in the toy and game industry with the release of its flagship product, the word game You’ve been Sentenced! The game has consistently been recognized by both the toy and game industry, as well as the education community, and is the recipient of numerous national awards including:

• Tillywig Award
• Creative Child Magazine, Seal of Excellence
• Dr. Toy Best Products
• Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Gold Seal Award
• Spewgie Award, Best Family Fun Game
• iParenting Media Hot Product Award
• FAO Schwarz Toy Auditions, Winner
• National Parenting Seal of Approval
• Mr. Dad Seal of Approval
• George Lucas Educational Foundation's Edutopia magazine, Hot Media for Educators

Following up its success with You’ve been Sentenced, McNeill Designs’ has added the memory game Twisted Fish, You’ve been Sentenced! themed add-on decks, and more to its roster of products. Most recently, the firm announced the launch of a NASA Space Terminology Deck themed add-on deck for the You’ve been Sentenced! word game.

For the new deck McNeill Designs signed a Space Act Agreement with The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and produced the new deck in conjunction with NASA’s Education Department. Together, the two chose words that reflected the rich history and future of NASA and space exploration.

For more information about McNeill Designs, its products, and people, or to request a media sample, please contact Susan McNeill at 302-478-2757 or visit McNeillDesigns (dot) com.

1729 Marsh Road
Wilmington, DE 19810

This release was published on openPR.