POINT PLEASANT — Elias Towner, a 12-year student who just finished the school year at Leon Elementary, will soon be blasting off to the NASA Space Camp in Mississippi for a whole week. And this isn’t the first time Towner has made the trip.

For the past two years, Towner has been chosen to attend the space camp to learn about science — one of his favorite subjects. The camp in Mississippi is just one of the three camps that NASA hosts in the country. The other locations are in Texas and Florida.

Through a cousin who works for NASA, Towner found out about the camp opportunity and jumped on board. He has been twice this year, first in February for a day, and then again in March for another one-day camp. This time, Towner will be spending a week at the camp which is held on a military base.

“During my first year, we learned about meteorology and the atmosphere,” Towner said. “And we studied weather my second year.”

Towner added that he was recognized with an award for being the student who traveled the greatest distance to attend the camp his first year.

“Miss Beverly bought me a badge for traveling the farthest,” Towner said. “That was pretty neat.”

The camp, which is taught by NASA instructors, provides a hands-on experience for those who attend. Towner has built many items, including reusable rockets, at the camp. While there is a small fee to attend, Towner also gets to see areas of the base where rockets are tested for shuttle missions, explore the launch pad and take a tour of an observation tower that has been converted into a classroom.

“We also have used household items to make a water-catch, wind-sock and a satellite,” Towner said. “I usually donate most of them to my science class.”

Whether he spends his time making friends, touring an interactive museum or learning how to land a space shuttle, Towner’s interest in science and space continues to grow with each trip.

“I would like to work for NASA one day,” Towner said. “I am really looking forward to going into robotics with rovers and satellites.”

While he has some time to think about his future, entering the seventh grade at Point Pleasant Middle School in the fall, Towner has already accomplished much at the elementary school.

“I am really looking forward to going to the middle school,” Towner said. “There will be a lot more freedom and computers. I am also looking forward to many of the extracurricular activities offered.”

Towner plans on taking part in the Summer Program offered where he is looking forward to the open gym and weight-lifting activities. He is a First Degree Black Belt.

At Leon, Towner was on the A-B Honor Roll, recipient of the Citizenship Award, Math Field Day winner, had Faithful Attendance, and was a member of the Safety Patrol. He also participated in the local and county Social Studies and Science Fairs, as well as having been to regionals once.

This recent sixth-grade graduate also played basketball for two years for the school. He was proud to say he played on the winning team that placed second in the county and won second place in the tournament.

Towner says that much of his hard-work ethic comes from his teachers at Leon.

“Mr. Hayman has really inspired me,” Towner said. “He is such a great teacher.”

He added that he also will miss his sixth grade teacher, Mr. Kerr, and Mrs. Martin, his computer lab/writing teacher.

While he is unsure about what this coming week at the NASA Space Camp will have in store for him, Towner is very excited.

“It’s been very fun so far,” Towner stated. “I am really looking forward to my trip.”

He is the son of Jeff and Angela Towner of Leon.