25 Years Later, Challenger's McAuliffe Remembered

Teacher-astronaut Christa McAuliffe, who died along with the six other crew members in the 1986 Challenger explosion, continues to inspire educators and students.

Photo: Education Week

Liana Heitin, Associate Editor of Education Week Teacher writes, "Friday, Jan. 28, marks the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster. Around the country, teachers—some of them classroom veterans, others too young to recall those terrible moments—will describe the day’s historical significance to their students. And schools, universities, and space-focused education organizations will commemorate Ms. McAuliffe and her fellow crew members with both large-scale events and small tributes."

• At the Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Fla., the site of the Challenger launch, the Astronauts Memorial Foundation will gather as many as 1,000 people for a ceremony in honor of the crew.

• The Houston Challenger Learning Center, one of 48 educational hubs of the Alexandria, Va.-based nonprofit Challenger Center for Space Science Education, will host a live national webcast connecting students with astronauts.

• At Concord High School in New Hampshire, where Ms. McAuliffe taught, a group of 40 or so teachers from the 1986 staff will convene for a reunion. Retired teacher Susan Capano, who organized the potluck gathering, said she’s looking forward to seeing her old colleagues, with whom she shared the elation leading up to the launch—and then the ensuing shock and grief.

And at a small Massachusetts school that bears Ms. McAuliffe’s name, students will carry out the teacher-astronaut’s legacy by completing sophisticated space-research projects.

Touching the Future
The 8th graders at the 250-student McAuliffe Regional Charter Public Middle School, in Framingham, Mass., have been investigating current space themes—such as new designs for spacesuits, ionized propulsion, and the climate on Venus—by working with experts in the field. The students visited labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in nearby Cambridge, Skyped with researchers in Japan, and interviewed meteor specialists at NASA to delve into their topics.

This Friday, to honor the educator whose name their school bears, the students will present their research at the Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State College, where Ms. McAuliffe received her bachelor’s degree. 
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Source: Education Week Teacher