For a school named after the first man on the moon, having a part of space exploration history on campus seems fitting. Especially when the school prides itself on being the first STEM-certified elementary school in the West Valley area, with a special curriculum focused on teaching the skills required to be a NASA engineer from a young age. On Oct. 25, students at Neil Armstrong Academy attending a special assembly had the opportunity to see the planting of a Douglas fir sapling in the school garden, one which had an incredible journey unlike any other plant. 

The sapling, referred to as the “moon tree,” grew from a seed that traveled on the Orion spacecraft during NASA’s historic Artemis 1 mission. This seed traveled 1.4 million miles to the moon and back from Nov. 16 to Dec. 11, 2022, making it among the farthest and fastest-traveling living organisms on earth today. 

Fourth-grade teacher David Pendleton is responsible for writing the application that brought this special tree to West Valley City. Following the return of the Orion, the seeds were taken in by the U.S. Forest Service and given out to schools that applied to have them planted on campus. Of the estimated 1,600 teachers who submitted applications, Pendleton was one of only around 50 to actually receive a moon tree. 

“I hope having the tree at our school inspires our students and our community to reach new heights in their lives,” Pendleton said. “That just as this tree will grow over the years and decades to come, they too will grow and become stronger as they work toward their goals and dreams.” According to him, students in his class have already been talking about returning to visit the moon tree with their own children and grandchildren in the future when the tree has fully grown. 

West Valley City is not the first community in Utah that has received a moon tree from NASA. A similar event took place following the Apollo 14 moon landing in 1971, in which the U.S. Forest Service brought tree seeds onto the shuttle. A sycamore tree from among this original batch of moon trees was planted at the Lone Peak Conservation Center in Draper in 1976, and it still stands in the garden to this day. 

“I think it’s really cool that they took a tree all the way to the moon and were able to bring it back and plant it at my school,” said fifth-grader Dylan Sanborn, whose peers have been curiously discussing the special plant and its out-of-this-world origin. Students will have opportunities to study this plant as it grows as part of their STEM curriculum. 

The school has announced plans to form a committee of teachers and staff to take care of the moon tree, which will supposedly live for at least another 50 years. The moon tree can be easily viewed from the sidewalk adjacent to the garden boxes just outside of the campus. A small part of space now resides in West Valley City.