Beyond Local: Alberta students getting chance to talk to astronaut aboard space station - St. Albert Gazette

Alberta Students Prepare for Live Q&A with Canadian Astronaut Aboard the ISS

The roughly 11-minute event will be hosted at the F.G. Miller Junior/Senior High School gymnasium, bringing together students from F.G. Miller and Elk Point Elementary School. Local amateur radio operators Craig Hellquist and Murray Boratynec are helping arrange the contact through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, using a telebridge system to relay communications via the internet.

Educators note that the upcoming space-to-Earth call has sparked immense curiosity and enthusiasm among students, who are developing questions in science classes about daily life in orbit—such as sleep schedules and hygiene in microgravity—as well as studying the underlying physics of spaceflight. Younger students are also comparing the growth of space-traveled tomato seeds to terrestrial ones.

Because Kutryk spent part of his youth in Elk Point and attended Elk Point Elementary, administrators believe his journey serves as a powerful local inspiration, demonstrating that small-town roots do not limit a student's potential to pursue careers in science, engineering, or space exploration.