REAL DAWGS WEAR PURPLE

DEB CALETTI, ’85 AWARD-WINNING FICTION AUTHOR

Deb Caletti fell in love with books and writing as a child. At the UW, the proud Husky studied journalism and worked for the campus radio station, then turned to creative writing after earning her degree. In 2002 she published “The Queen of Everything,” a coming-of-age story about a high school student in Washington state. She has since written more than 20 books for teenage and adult readers. She’s a National Book Award finalist, Michael L. Printz Honor Book medalist and Washington State Book Award winner. With several Huskies in her family, Caletti stays true to her purple-and-gold roots — and many of her books are set among the houseboats of Lake Union, near the UW campus in Seattle.

Rocketry The Washington Space Grant team supports the UW’s robust Aeronautics & Astronautics department in a rocketry program for students interested in supersonic flight.

Example: We watched a rocket launch in the community of White Swan. Check out the video at uwmag.online/rockets

High-Altitude Balloons Students can send objects up to 115,000 feet high using low-cost helium balloons.

Example: During the 2017 solar eclipse, 100 teenagers from tribes across the Pacific Northwest released balloons—each containing a “payload” of culturally significant items like feathers and wooden instruments—all the way to space and back. The balloons tracked changes in temperature and gravity during the eclipse.