FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) – Students at Benjamin Franklin Middle School spent eight weeks participating in the Plant the Moon Challenge, an international science experiment and competition where students use regolith, a simulated lunar soil, to grow food.
Two teams, The Mean Greens and MoonShrooms, won overall Best in Show middle school teams for Virginia under the NASA Space Grant Regional Expansion Project. Under the Plant the Moon program, The Mean Greens were recognized as the Top Middle School Virginia team.
The Mean Greens also won overall Best in Show for the Middle School International Awards.
“It was a really good feeling when we found out we won,” said Evan Tolley, a member of The Mean Greens.
“We celebrated a lot. It was really great,” said Aynzlee Gray of team MoonShrooms.
Twenty-seven students took a trip to Richmond where they presented their projects in front of NASA scientists and several other schools.
“Presenting in front of all the other teams, it was amazing,” said Elijah Cerebe of Team MoonShrooms.
“It was awesome being able to see the other projects that the other competitors worked on,” said Ben Sexton of The Mean Greens.
“I think it was really cool to see that the other teams went through the same things we went through during the project,” said Gage Grantham of The Mean Greens.
Students said the competition taught them about overcoming challenges.
“You will have a lot of problems in life that you have to work through, that you have to overcome, and then you get better at the thing that you have the problem in,” said Colton Slaughter of The Mean Greens.
“I learned that teamwork is very important in things like this,” said Alyssa Taylor of team MoonShrooms.
“You can’t just do it alone. You definitely need people to help you out in order to succeed,” said Austin Fletcher, team captain of The Mean Greens.
Teacher Jennifer Hatch said the experience showed what students can accomplish.
“I think as a teacher in today’s world, this is what I think you want from your future, is thinkers. People that can think outside the box and then work together and collaborate and then excel to levels that we didn’t even know were possible,” Hatch said.
Copyright 2026 WDBJ. All rights reserved.