Easton Thomas, a fifth grader at Jordan, is making waves well beyond the classroom as he competes in the national competition America’s Favorite Student—and he needs more votes to continue advancing to the next level. The stakes are sky-high: one winning student will earn a tour of The Planetary Society with Bill Nye the Science Guy, receive $20,000, and be featured in Reader’s Digest.
You can support Easton by casting your vote today!—vote each day until April 9th when the next round of students are announced. Let’s Go Easton!
Easton’s love for space began early. Since Pre-K, he has been fascinated by planets, stars, and space exploration. At just five years old, he amazed his mom by naming dwarf planets and explaining where they are in the solar system. By age six, he confidently declared his dream of becoming an aerospace engineer—not an astronaut because he said he didn’t want to be too far away from his family. In third grade, he independently created a large-scale solar system model for a class project, complete with rotating planets—an early preview of his engineering mindset. Today, Easton keeps up with NASA discoveries through his favorite science influencers, eagerly sharing new facts with his teachers. His favorite planet is Mars, thanks to its iron-rich surface and the wealth of research scientists have gathered about it.
Outside of school, Easton continues to build, explore, and imagine. He devours LEGO builds, completes advanced KiwiCo engineering kits in record time, and lives in a bedroom filled with solar systems and space décor. He has already visited NASA, toured the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and jokingly told his family they could have left him there for days to learn even more. This summer, his family hopes to inspire him further with trips to Big Bend for a zero–light pollution night sky and the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis. With continued community support and votes, Easton Thomas is one step closer to turning his lifelong passion for space into a future among the stars.