Kids at the Interlake School Division were the first Canadian students to take part in a program to send experiments to the International Space Station.

Jordan Schott and three other sixth grade students came up with the idea to test royal jelly – a special food for queen bees – in space. Their experiment came very close to be tested on the space station.

“We were seeing if we could send it up to space, and if it would lose its nutritional value faster or slower,” said Schott.

Schott is one of 18 students in the Space Knights Club at Woodlands Elementary School, part of the Interlake School Division. Over 450 students from the division took part in the program.

 “I thought we were just students and we couldn’t do much in the way of that. It’s a way to interact with people up there,” said Braeden Clark, a Grade 7 student who is also in the club.

The aspiring astronauts shared what they learned with their school with a full day of activities all related to science and space.

Teacher Maria Nickel is the organizer of the club. She said the day was great for students to learn what they could do. “Space is one of those great avenues that gets kids excited, but it also gives them the opportunity to do so much. They can be an astronaut, they can be an engineer,” she said.

The day was held in honour of Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut currently on board the International Space Station. In two days he will be the first Canadian to take command of it.

“It gives the kids someone more to look up to. Here's a real hero to look up to who's doing it all, doing it through education,” said Nickel.

Nickel hopes the event inspires students to do what they love.

Jordan Schott thinks it’s really cool. “To me it seems so cool how people can go up to space, and science is something I’ve always liked,” she said.

Schott says she wants to follow in the footsteps of Hadfield and be an astronaut when she gets older.

One of the winning experiments in the competition was produced by students from Argyle, Manitoba. It will travel to the space station in the fall.

- with a story by CTV's Ina Sidhu