Richland One celebrates the Challenger Learning Center’s 30th anniversary
February 12, 2026
For 30 years, Richland One’s Challenger Learning Center has provided students like W.A. Perry Middle School seventh-grader Shamani Jenkins with engaging hands-on experiences in science, technology, engineering and math.
Shamani is a student in Richland One’s middle school BLAST (Building Lasting Aerospace and STEM Trajectories) magnet program. She credits the center as an experience that’s made her time in the BLAST magnet program exciting and meaningful.
“Experiences outside the classroom, like the Challenger Learning Center, have helped me see science come to life. I’ve learned how flight works and gained a deeper understanding of space and rocket science,” said Shamani, who was named the 2024-2025 National Aerospace Connections in Education (ACE) Student of the Year by the Civil Air Patrol.
Richland One celebrated the Challenger Learning Center’s 30th anniversary during a special program February 11. The center is the only one of its kind in South Carolina and the nation’s first freestanding Challenger Learning Center.
2026 also marks 40 years since the loss of NASA’s Challenger 51-L Crew, which included South Carolina native Dr. Ron McNair. The Challenger Learning Centers were founded in 1986 by the families of these astronauts and are dedicated to the educational spirit of their mission. The Richland One Challenger Learning Center opened its doors on February 11, 1996.
“When we talk about excellence across the Challenger network, this center [Richland One’s] is part of that story. The work you do here contributes directly to the national impact of the Challenger Learning Center as a whole. Congratulations on this incredible anniversary. We are proud of you, grateful for you and excited to continue shaping the future together,” said Kevin Harrell, the vice president of education at the Challenger Center headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Over the years, the Challenger Learning Center has grown to include an aerospace education laboratory, an ePlanetarium, a Tuskegee Airmen exhibit, classroom facility, portable flight simulators, articles flown in space (including two shuttle tires and a shuttle tile), exclusive space photos, autographed paraphernalia and a 20-foot art sculpture of the space shuttle. The center also has increased its services by offering hands-on activities, ground school and an AstroTot program designed for students in kindergarten through second grade. Summer camps allow Richland One students and children across South Carolina to build robots, launch model rockets and fly jets in a flight simulator.
“This center was built on a powerful idea that hands-on, immersive learning can change the way that young people see the world and their place in it. Over the past 30 years, more than 160,000 visitors have stepped into our simulators, taken on real–world challenges and discovered that science and teamwork can take them further than they’ve ever imagined,” said Dr. Carolyn Donelan, lead flight director of Richland One’s Challenger Learning Center.
To schedule a visit or learn more about the center’s programs and activities, go to www.ChallengerSC.org; send an e-mail to [email protected]; or call (803) 929-3951.
