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Featured Student Group: TJ SPACE
Recently, members of TJ SPACE traveled to Utah State University in Logan, UT to participate in the National Small Satellite Conference. TJ was the only high school to present their research at the conference’s Technical Sessions – a paper entitled “Identifying and Overcoming Challenges in High School CubeSat Programs”.
TJ was also the only high school to host a booth at the event, alongside universities like MIT, Georgia Tech, Purdue University and the U.S. Naval Academy. At the booth, students were visited by NASA officials and other government agencies, corporate representatives, college students, and other high schoolers to discuss their research.
Earlier that year, TJ SPACE had traveled to Houston, TX to load their satellite - tjREVERB - into a deployer tube at the Nanoracks facility. In November, during the TJPF's Alumni Day Celebration, alumni witnessed the satellite's launch from the NASA Wallops Island pad on a SpaceX Dragon rocket. And in January, tjREVERB became TJ's second satellite deployed into low-earth orbit from the International Space Station.
The TJ Partnership Fund was able to approve grants of over $20,000 to TJ SPACE, allowing they and their intrepid sponsor, Ms. Kristen Kucko, to travel to Texas and Utah for these unique and well-deserved opportunities. Through remarkable student groups like TJ SPACE, the Partnership Fund supports TJ’s mission to develop the next generation of STEM innovators and leaders.
TJ Rocketry has been amazing spectators for years, but after strong showings at The American Rocketry Challenge, they were up for a new challenge. For the first time in a decade, they decided to enter the NASA Student Launch Initiative Competition with their spectacular 12-foot rocket, “Blackbird”.
From a field of over 800 schools and clubs, they were selected to travel to Huntsville, AL (home of the US Space and Rocketry Center) to launch their rocket alongside teams from some of America’s most notorious universities. The team also participated in a Rocket Fair where they showed off their design and learned from the other programs present. TJ Rocketry was able to enjoy this experience in part through a $4,000 grant from the TJPF.
TJ’s original CubeSat mission launched in 2013 from Wallops Island in Virginia, and made TJ the first high school in the world to launch a satellite into space. Members of the team traveled to Houston to integrate their new CubeSat, REVERB, into a Nanoracks carrier which was transported to Wallops Island for load-in to a SpaceX rocket. REVERB launched on November 26, 2022 and successfully docked with the International Space Station in December, deploying a few weeks later.
The TJ Partnership Fund is proud to help TJ Student Groups reach new heights spread awareness of TJ's excellence across America.
In April of 2023, the TJ Science Olympiad team joined 23 other schools from all across the state of Virginia to compete for one precious spot at Nationals – and they emerged victorious! TJSO had qualified for the State Championship via a Regional Tournament that they hosted at TJ, and they dominated the State Competition to win by a wide margin. The team has since gone on to complete a "three-peat", winning again in 2024 and 2025 and improving their finish at Nationals each year in the process!
The TJ Partnership Fund is proud to sponsor many of TJ’s competitive academic teams alongside TJ Academic Boosters. TJ Science Olympiad was the recipient of a $1,500 grant through TJPF’s Student Group Grant Program in all three of their state championship seasons and is also supported by TJPF Foundation Partner Jane Street Group.
TJ LaunchX is well-regarded for their signature event, InnovateTJ! This event is an innovation incubator where students come together in teams, are assigned a theme of innovation, and work together in a 24-hour sprint to solve a problem and pitch their solution to local business leaders who serve as judges.
The 2023 event hosted over 30 teams and generated a ton of interest from the community – and the event doubled in size for 2024 and again for 2025! Thank you to TJ Alum Nick Perez ’10 for judging and presenting to the students on the legal challenges of developing a tech startup!
Each year, the TJ Neuroscience Society conducts their annual Brain Awareness Week campaign in concert with the Dana Foundation, a private non-profit based in New York dedicated to the advancement of neuroscience in society. Students engaged in activities ranging from sheep brain dissections and stimulation of cockroach legs to puzzles, scavenger hunts, meditation practices, and neuro-themed Wordles.
The TJ Partnership Fund supported Brain Awareness Week through a grant from our Student Group Grant Program. Check out some highlights and hear student leaders discuss what it meant to them to introduce younger students to our amazing brains!