S.C. Educators Hail Teacher’s Star Trek: Barbara Morgan Has Prepared for This Day Since Before the 1986 Challenger
By Bill Robinson, The State, Columbia, S.C.
Aug. 8–The nation’s teachers cast optimistic eyes skyward today as one of their own is scheduled to ride into space aboard the shuttle Endeavour.
Barbara Morgan of Idaho waited 22 years for the chance to work in space, a journey of perseverance not lost on colleagues from South Carolina.
NASA chose and trained Morgan to be the backup to Christa McAuliffe, the New Hampshire high school teacher who died in the 1986 Challenger explosion.
Christi McCollum of Columbia, the 2003 state Teacher of the Year, was a first-year educator in Charleston on that day in January.
“My heart aches today just thinking about it,” said McCollum, now a teacher-trainer in Richland 2. “The fact that Barbara Morgan has stuck with it all these years speaks to her commitment to be the first to do this.
“It epitomizes what lifelong learning is all about,” McCollum said. “What a message it is for other teachers; what a message it is for kids — that you can accomplish your dreams.”
State Teachers of the Year are offered an opportunity to attend a week-long “space camp” in Alabama as part of the national educator of the year program.
Irmo Elementary’s Buffy Murphy, the state’s top teacher for 2006-07, attended the camp two weeks ago. The experience was a highlight of her year away from the classroom, she said.
“We were all so excited to hear that she’s finally going to be going up,” Murphy said. “I wish the kids were in school now so we could talk about (her mission) while it is happening.”
Murphy plans to follow Morgan’s travels via the Internet. She also said she has ordered seeds taken into and returned from outer space for a science lesson she plans to teach to her fifth-graders.
Aiken’s Jason Fulmer, the 2004 state Teacher of the Year, said Morgan’s adventure “could renew the country’s interest in the space program. I know it will be a good thing for our profession.”
But the real question is: Would you trade places with the 55-year-old Morgan?
“I support what she’s doing, but I’m not that much of a risk-taker,” Murphy said.
Fulmer hesitated, then chose his words carefully.
“I would certainly be open to it,” he said. “At one time, I was really gung-ho” about space.
McCollum said, “part of me wants to say ‘yes,’ because she’ll be blazing new trails for education. That’s what drives me. I want to take kids where they’ve never been before.”
Reach Robinson at (803) 771-8482.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The State, Columbia, S.C.
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