Team Advisor Spotlight: Marty Massengale

Marty Massengale from the Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts.

Ever wonder how Team Advisors seem to manage multiple eCYBERMISSION Teams in addition to balancing school standards, extra-curricular activities and limited resources? Team Advisor, Marty Massengale of Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts (CSLA) in Chattanooga, Tenn., does so very successfully, with 38 teams comprised of 131 students participating this year. With numerous awards under their belt over the last few years, CSLA’s participants range from sixth to eighth grade.


“We originally learned about eCYBERMISSION through a flyer in the mail” stated Massengale, a technology teacher who has experience teaching middle and high school, as well as college, in a variety of subjects. After conducting more research and visiting the website, Mr. Massengale and his colleagues felt the competition would be the perfect way to reinforce Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills that are required by state education standards.

Mr. Massengale believes in the program as well.  He thinks that, “eCYBERMISSION provides a wealth of information on the scientific method/inquiry and the engineering design process, which specifically fits with many of my state STEM standards. The program is unique in that the online component allows flexibility while showing students first-hand how STEM can be applied in the real world.”

Mr. Massengale has found success in implementing the program into his curriculum by having teams work on their projects on a rolling basis. Since he does not have every team member in his class year round, students rotate who concentrates on the program in class, and other team members conduct their work at home online. This way, both the online component and outside experimentation are conducted before the submission deadline.

While each school’s standards vary, Mr. Massengale has found a way to take the program’s flexible Mission Folder questions and timeline, and fit them into his school’s schedule and requirements. He continues to come back year after year because “students of middle school age are at the perfect time in their lives to be exposed to this curriculum and discover their passion. Without exposure to these types of programs, their interest in STEM may go unrealized.”

Thank you for your years or support, Mr. Massengale. We can’t wait to see what your kids come up with this year!

For more information on how to incorporate the eCYBERMISSION Program into your school’s curriculum, please contact Mission Control at 1-866-GO-CYBER or via email at missioncontrol@ecybermission.com.