By: Marlowe Beatty and Sarah Frank
Mrs. Laura Grimm, a junior high science teacher, was recently accepted into the Honeywell Educators at the Space Academy program at the U.S. and Space Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. To be accepted she had to complete an application and write three essays. She will be in this program from June 15-21, 2012. Mrs. Grimm will learn new techniques to educate her students in science and math. She was one of the 200 teachers that are fortunate enough to participate in this program. All of her costs are sponsored by Honeywell Hometown Solutions.
Mrs. Grimm wanted to apply because she has always been interested in astronomy and the space program. She said, “it’s a good way to learn more about space and bring back exciting lessons for my students. It might encourage them to study math and science in college.” She first became interested in astronomy when she watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon in 1969. She sat and watched this event on a little black and white TV with her father.
“While other girls my age were busy playing with Barbie dolls or starting to notice boys, I was occupied building rockets in the science laboratory that I had constructed out behind the garage under the pine trees.”
Amazingly, Mrs. Grimm launched her first rocket when she was 10 years old. She also had the opportunity to meet John Glenn (the first American to orbit the Earth) when she was in 7th grade and she was also a NASA Scout Explorer when she was in 11th and 12th grade.
It seems as if all of her hard work has paid off. Honeywell is giving Mrs. Grimm the opportunity to possibly be the commander of a mock space shuttle launch. She is most excited about this, but she is also most nervous for the mock water landing. She will have to get out of a submerged lander alive! She doesn’t know if she will have to eat space food or not, but she hopes so.
Mrs. Grimm would love to go to space for real someday. She said, “John Glenn was the oldest person in space. He was 77 years old. I’m not that old! I still have some years left to dream about going into space! You are never too old to reach for the stars.” It would be awesome if she were able to accomplish this goal!
She may even have the possibility of meeting someone famous. There will be many speakers coming and presenting. There will be a History of Space Program speaker presentation, Astronaut presentation, and Guest Presentation.
Everyone at Dalton is very proud of Mrs. Grimm for making it into this program! It is a great honor and she will hopefully come back with new knowledge to use in the classroom. We wish her good luck in this experience and hope she has a wonderful time.
Click here for more information about Honeywell Educators at the Space Academy Program:http://educators.honeywell.com
