Alaina Clarke
alaina@jcnews.com
Dames Ferry Elementary NASA STEM Day took place Sept. 7, during which the school received an education downlink so students could ask astronauts from the International Space Station questions.
Students also spent the day learning about space and participating in STEM sessions.
Christin White, a fourth-grade science teacher at Dames Ferry, said she and the students were excited about the education downlink and to hear from the astronauts.
“The major thing that started all of this was our link with NASA. Students were able to ask astronauts from the International Space Station questions,” she said. When Dames Ferry was selected for the link, we wanted it to be a big day. We started contacting partners who we have worked with in the past to put together fun STEM activities and more for the students.”
She said the students participated in STEM stations until 10 a.m., when the education downlink started. She said at 1:30 p.m. that day students had a zoom session with aerospace engineers. She said it was a full day of learning about STEM and space.
“This was very important for our kids here at Dames Ferry. We are a rural county, and we wanted to promote STEM career exposure to our students. You have very traditional STEM careers around here, so we want to expose them to non-traditional careers in aviation and aerospace they may have never heard of,” White said.
The teacher said teachers adjusted their lessons to go along with Dames Ferry Elementary NASA STEM Day at the school. She said it’s been something they prepared for and became part of the school’s mission. She said it’s helped the students learn something deeper.
Hadley Knox, a fourth-grade student at DFES, said she was excited to watch the link with the astronauts and hear what they had to say. She said she enjoys learning about space, and she knows the stars are always out. She wants to go up in space one day.
“We learned about space and how cool it is to be an astronaut. To be an astronaut you have to have a space suit on to get oxygen and work hard in space,” Knox said. “I wanted to ask the astronauts if they will ever go to Mars.”
Jackson Avant, another fourth-grade student, said he was excited for Dames Ferry Elementary NASA STEM Day.
He said he might want to be an astronaut one day. He said his favorite thing to do was go into the space lab to learn about the stars and what they mean.
“It was really cool to get to ask the astronauts questions. I know that space can be very cold, so that’s interesting. I learned that astronauts have to do training for lots of years,” he said.
Community partners who participated in the event were Georgia Farm Bureau, Georgia College, GCSU Science Education Department, MGSU School of Aviation, Georgia Power, Air Evac, Delta, Georgia Tech Research Institute, Mercer Chemistry, and Robins Air Force Base Museum of Aviation. Their presentations started at 8 a.m. and wrapped up in time for students to return to there classrooms for the education downlink.
During the education link with NASA, students met two astronauts currently on the International Space Session, Frank Rubio and Jasmin Moghbeli, both flight engineers. Georgia BOE Chairman Jason Downey introduced the session that was watched by students in their classrooms.
Parents and community partners were able to watch the education link from on a big screen in the gym. Students from each grade level at DFES were selected to ask their questions. The students were Jacob Dixon, Isaac Gordon, Skylar Wall, Hope Keene, Kam Brock, Josie Howell, Landon Pearson, Jacie Hedges, Colton Gordon, Asher Sitten, Cutler Clymer, Annie Livingston, Taylor Paul, Lily Slaughter, Alyssa Scott, Blaze Carey, Joshua Brice Fuller, Gabriel Turner and Kamden Pitts.
The students asked various questions about the International Space Station in addition to personal questions about why the astronauts wanted to go to space, what they did for fun while in space and even if they were able to watch television.
White said she feels Dames Ferry Elementary NASA STEM Day has sparked an interest in future careers with some students. She said she wants to see her students do something big one day, and she hopes they took some inspiration from the link with the astronauts.
“I am a space geek, so I was so excited to connect with astronauts myself. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for these students,” the teacher said. “They probably won’t ever get to do this again. This is going to be something they remember many years down the road.”
