Maine ASCD Weblog

Fly Me To The Moon

I was playing around with some Frank Sinatra audio clips this weekend while I was pulling together a video collage of some photos I took at my niece's wedding in New York last week. Frank's sentimental music seems to still resonate when it comes to weddings and romance. So, the song "Fly Me To the Moon" began to bounce through my brain when I read this e-mail inviting me to "pass the word" about a new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education site.

The invitation states:

Journey through the Universe is a national science education initiative that engages entire communities using education programs in the Earth and space sciences and space exploration to inspire and educate. The initiative embraces the notion that - it takes a community to educate a child - which is the basis for the program¹s Learning Community Model of program delivery.

The program offers a broad array of grade K-12 programming, curricular content, and resources that a community can use to create a customized Journey through the Universe program: reflecting their strategic needs in STEM education growing from local standards of teaching and learning and NCLB; that can be delivered systemically across an entire school district; and that is designed to be sustainable.

It looks kinda cool, but then I'm just one of those "junior exploders" who never grew up.

~John Brandt

Teacher in Space

I guess like many of you, I held my breath during the launch of the space shuttle Endeavor the other evening. Everyone knows it is carrying Barbara Morgan, the first teacher in space and back up to Christa McAuliffe. I was happy that NASA held the launch during the "evening news hour" (at least on the East Coast) which in addition to allowing many people to see it live, made the news media stop and pay attention to a shuttle launch; something that in recent years has often been put at the end of the news (if at all).

I won't rehash the Challenger experience except to point out that just about everyone attending school - K-16 these days- were born after that fateful day 21 years ago in January 1986. For those of us who did live through it, it was a cruel blow in many ways. Being one of those kids who was born just in time for the space race, I have always been fascinated by astronauts and space travel. Like my fellow baby boomers, space travel had almost become routine and when the Challenger tragedy occurred; we were shocked that it could happen.

But the death of a teacher, a woman who looked just like the teachers I worked with every day, was a very sad and disturbing event. I had friends who had applied to the "teacher in space" program and that made the experience even more personal.

So, after Endeavor made it into orbit, and the news stations went back to reporting on other news, I hoped we do not forget this milestone. And I hope, despite the fact that many schools are not opened yet, many teachers will make this a "teachable moment" and that a new generation of kids fascinated with astronauts and space travel will be created.

And yes, I will still be holding my breath until Endeavor and her precious cargo have safely returned to Mother Earth.

~John Brandt