Educator Astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger

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Educator Astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger. Photo credit: NASA

When Christa McAuliffe was selected to be the first Teacher in Space, the educational community was very excited and immensely proud. It was truly a sad day on January 28, 1986, when this gifted and talented educator perished, along with six other astronauts, in the Challenger disaster. But the Teacher in Space program lives on, and other remarkable teachers have been fortunate enough to be a part of it. One such teacher is Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger.

Dorothy, who prefers to be called Dottie, was born May 2, 1975, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the daughter of two teachers. She graduated from Fort Collins High School in Fort Collins, Colorado. After her high school graduation, she earned her bachelor’s degree in geology from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, in 1997, and her teaching certificate from Central Washington University at Ellensburg, Washington, in 1999. That year, she was named the Outstanding Teacher Preparation Candidate at the university.

Dottie was employed for five years as a science teacher at Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington, where she instructed courses in earth science and astronomy, and also coached the Science Olympiad. An accomplished athlete, Dottie also coached cross country for three years.

It was through her teaching that Dottie became involved in the NASA astronaut program. One day, while educating her students about the Hubble Space Telescope, one of her students asked her how astronauts go to the bathroom in space. To find the answer, Dottie consulted the NASA website, where she found not only the answer, but also an application to become an educator astronaut. Just over a year later, in May, 2004, the gifted educator was selected to be an Astronaut Candidate. To complete the program, Dottie underwent rigorous training that included orientations, briefings, tours, scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in space shuttle and international space station systems, physiological training, flight training, and water and wilderness survival training. Successful completion of this training in February, 2006, qualified her as a NASA astronaut. Dottie then served as a Mission Specialist in April, 2010, on STS-131, a space shuttle mission to the international space station.

On April 16, 2012, NASA announced that Dottie would command the NEEMO 16 undersea exploration mission aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory, scheduled to begin on June 11, 2012, and last twelve days.The NEEMO 16 crew successfully “splashed down” at 11:05 am on June 11. On the morning of June 12, the former teacher and her crewmates officially became aquanauts, having spent over 24 hours underwater.The crew safely returned to the surface on June 22.

Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger. The Teacher in Space program lives on in her.

Former teacher and Educator Astronaut Barbara Morgan

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Educator Astronaut Barbara Morgan of Montana served as the alternate to the first Teacher in Space. Photo credit: NASA.

Educator Barbara Morgan is probably best-known for being named as Christa McAuliffe’s alternate for the Teacher in Space Program in 1985. Following Christa’s untimely death in the space shuttle Challenger explosion, Barbara continued her training as an astronaut. She became a mission specialist, becoming a full-time astronaut in 1998, and flew into space in 2007, completing an assignment aboard the International Space Station.

Barbara was born in Fresno, California, on Nov. 28, 1951. After her graduation from Herbert Hoover High School in 1969, she enrolled at Sanford University. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology there in 1973. She earned her teaching credential in 1974 from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California.

Once she completed her education, Barbara began her career in education as a remedial reading and math teacher at Arlee Elementary School located on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Arlee, Montana. From 1978 to 1979, Barbara taught science and English to third graders at the Colegio americano de Quito located in Quito, Ecuador. She has also been a teacher of second, third, and fourth graders at McCall-Donnelly Elementary School in McCall, Idaho. Her career there spanned from 1979 to 1998.

After working extensively with NASA, Barbara accepted a teaching position at Boise State University in 2008. Later that year, she took a full-time position as a Distinguished Educator in Residence. There she represented the university in policy development, advocacy and fund-raising in science, technology, engineering and math.

On July 4, 2008, Barbara was honored with the “Friend of Education” award from the National Education Association. The following month, an elementary school named for the Chalkboard Champion was inaugurated in McCall, Idaho. The same year, she garnered the Women in Space Science Award from the Adler Planetarium.

NASA’s Educator Astronauts: Teachers in space

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The Educator Astronaut Project is a program sponsored by NASA to educate America’s students about space exploration. Inaugurated in the 1990s, the program furthers the objectives established in the original Teacher in Space Program. One of these objectives was to elevate teaching as a profession, and another of these objectives was to inspire students to pursue careers in science and math. Educator astronauts are fully trained astronauts who fly aboard spacecraft as full-fledged crew members. They have duties and responsibilities that are the same as any other astronaut. In addition, they prepare lessons and demonstrations about space exploration for students in America’s classrooms.

Educator Astronauts Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger (left), Ricard Arnold (center), and Joseph Acaba (right). Photo credit: NASA

To date, there have been four teachers who have been trained as educator astronauts. These teachers are Montana teacher Barbara Morgan; Florida educator Joseph Acaba; Maryland teacher Richard Arnold; and Washington educator Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger. New Hampshire educator Christa McAuliffe, the first participant in the Teacher in Space program, was classified as a civilian member of the crew. Tragically, she perished along with six astronauts in the space shuttle Challengerdisaster in 1986.

To read more about teachers in space, click on this link to Citizens in Space.org. To read more about the Educator Astronaut Project, click on this link to Revolvy.

 

California’s Carol Liu: Former educator and politician

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California’s Carol Liu, a former middle school and high school history teacher, also earned success in the political arena. Photo credit: California Competes.

Many times professional educators who have left the classroom go on to earn success in the political arena. One of these is California’s Carol Liu, a former teacher who has also served as a lawmaker.

Carol was born on Sept. 12, 1941, in Berkeley, California. Her father was an immigrant from China, and her mother was a fourth generation Californian. As a young woman, Carol attended San Jose State College, where she earned her Bachelors’ degree in 1963. She earned an Administrative Credential from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1982.

After she earned her teaching degree, Carol taught history at the junior high and senior high school level in the Richmond Unified School District. Her career as an educator spanned from 1964 to 1978. From 1975 to 19778, she also served as the Executor Director of the Richmond Federation of Teachers.

Once she left the teaching profession, Carol earned success in the political arena. First, she was elected to the City Council of La Canada Flintridge, a small city near Pasadena. She served there from 1992 to 2000. During these years, she served two terms as the city’s mayor. Next, she was elected on the Democratic ticket to the California Sate Assembly, where she represented the 44th District from 2000 to 2006. In the Assembly, Carol served on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education and on the National Commission on Accountability in Higher Education.

Last, Carol was elected to the California State Senate, where she represented the 25th District from 2008 to 2016. As a Senator, Carol served on the Legislative Advisory Committee of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. She chaired several committees and caucuses during her tenure, including the Assembly Higher Education Committee, the Assembly Select Committee on Adult Education, and the Senate Education Committee.

All her life, Carol has been a strong proponent of increasing access to higher education, as well as to career and technical education. Among her most important legislative work was SB 1143, which created the task force that led to the California Community College Student Success Act. Win addition, she was responsible for the enactment of SB 110, the Crime Victims with Disabilities Act of 2010. The bill, which assures that abuse and neglect of the elderly and people with disabilities are prosecuted as crimes, was passed unanimously by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Kudos to Carol Liu: a true Chalkboard Champion.

Paul Timm named Nebraska’s Teacher of the Year

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Congratulations to Paul Timm, a science educator from Lyons, Nebraska, who has been named his state’s 2021 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: AgUpdate.

Congratulations go out to Paul Timm, a science educator from Lyons, Nebraska. Paul has been named his state’s 2021 Teacher of the Year.

Paul currently works at Lyons-Decatur Northeast Secondary School in Lyons. The school is located about 70 miles northwest of Omaha. There he teaches biology, agriculture education, and health science for grades 7 through 12. Throughout his 17-year career, he has taught 18 different courses, including AP Biology, a science research course, Earth and space science, and welding and agricultural mechanics. In addition, Paul has taught a leadership class, sponsored his school’s Quiz Bowl, advised the National Honor Society on his campus. As if all this were not enough, Paul has also coached cross county and track and field. His cross country teams have earned four conference championships and five state qualifications.

Paul says he views learning as an entrepreneurial venture. Students are not just employees at the job, he believes, but business owners building an enterprise of learning with passion, personal choice, and full ownership. “I begin by fostering a culture which promotes curiosity and questions, sharing of ideas, celebrating successes, and willingness to learn from failures,” explains Paul. “Project- and inquiry-based learning drives education to the highest levels while extending the learning environment beyond the classroom and providing student choice,” he declares. Using this philosophy, Paul strives to prepare his students for life outside school.

Paul earned his Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Education and his Master’s degree in Entomology, both from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He is also a National Geographic Certified Educator, a 2020 Advocate for the Society for Science and the Public, and a 2017 Nebraska Finalist for the Presidential Award for Mathematics and Science Teaching.

To read more about Paul Timm, click on this link to the University of Nebraska.