CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Elliott Blackwood, a 9-year-old student at Ruffner Elementary School,  is the winner of the Kanawha County Public Library's Space Camp essay contest.

Elliott's piece, "Space Camp: The First Frontier," was selected from 23 essays submitted to the library as part of its Reading is a Blast summer club.

"I want to go to Space Camp because I love 'Star Trek,' and I would like to know what it feels like in space. When I grow up I could live in space if people have the technology to make colonies in space, or on planets," his essay reads. "When I was born in 2003, the TV show 'Star Trek Enterprise' came out. That year to me means I was born to go live in space: the final frontier."

Elliott and his family will attend a three-day Space Camp program at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. Activities include mission training, rocket construction and a lesson on space exploration. 

Anne Ray Silbernagel donated the trip to The Library Foundation.

"We're very pleased to be able to award this Space Camp trip to Elliott and his family," said Library Director Alan Engelbert.  "And we're grateful to the Ray family for their generous donation and continued support of Kanawha County Public Library."