NASA official visiting public high school in Alabama praises incredible teachers, "incredible" students – Yellowhammer News

by



[ad_1]

NASA official visiting Alabama public high school praises "incredible teachers" and "incredible" students

ARAB – NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Congressman Robert Aderholt (AL-04) went to Arab High School on Friday to speak with local students, faculty and elected officials about from space.

The first priority was meeting with the school's student robotics team participating in NASA's Great Moonbuggy Race, an annual competition in which teams of students from around the world design, build, program and operate then their own robot robot Moonbuggy.

The teacher of the team told Bridenstine that for him, "it's not a job, it's a vocation".

This type of passion was evident among students and faculty during their visits to Bridenstine and Aderholt, as well as a contingent of NASA employees, some from the Marshall Space Flight Center near Huntsville, who accompanied the administrator. .

This included a featured appearance by Ricky Arnold, an active astronaut who spent time on the International Space Station, among other missions.

The next leg of the tour was another school robotics team, which annually participates in the FIRST robotics competition. This is a "legacy team" of NASA, as it was funded by the agency for the first three years of its existence, from 2004 to 2007. In operation for 15 years now, this program has become respected nationally and won the Woodie Flowers finalist award at last year's regional competition and its progression to the world championships. 25,000 American students participate in this competition. And while receiving more funding from NASA, several NASA and / or Marshall Space Flight Center employees help the team as mentors and volunteers.

Bridenstine, while talking with the students of the team, turned to Aderholt and said, "We at NASA believe in this (by supporting the efforts of student robotics), because we get benefits from young people who get involved and find themselves working in a NASA-supported area or working directly for NASA. "

"In fact, we invest about $ 4,500,000 a year in the FIRST Robotics program," he said.

NASA's visit to Arab High School was one of NASA's main concerns: it focused on the value of STEM education and the pathways to rewarding and high quality careers. such courses and programs.

Bridenstine explained to the students of both teams that the work done for their respective competitions "was very similar to the kind of NASA projects".

This builds real-world skills and realistically prepares them for STEM and technical jobs.

Bridenstine also offered words of encouragement.

"These children here … could very well one day build the robots we have installed on Mars," he said.

"I think you have some future NASA employees here," said Arnold.

"Yes, no doubt," replied the administrator. "Without a doubt."

"You do incredible things here"

While addressing a more complete group of Arab High School students in the school's media center shortly thereafter, Bridenstine explained some of the things NASA is currently working on, things he said to the students, to which they could soon be directly associated.

"I've heard wonderful things about this high school," he said, adding that what he had seen on Friday affirmed what he had told him before. "Clearly, you are doing incredible things here."

"Maybe someday NASA can get you involved in some of the projects we're working on," Bridenstine said.

NASA's most important project may have been passed on directly by President Donald Trump: the Artemis program, which will see the Americans return to the moon, the first woman to rise to the surface of the moon and discover the first trip to Mars.

Much of the work on Artemis is underway at the Marshall Space Flight Center, and Bridenstine, after leaving Sand Mountain High School, has gone to Huntsville to announce more property information for the future. Alabama's northern space industry – Marshall will lead the lunar landing program for Artemis now.

However, before leaving Arab High School, he left the students more inspiration.

"I think if we could find life (microbial life) on another planet … if we can find out that, I think it will change the way we think, it will change what we want to discover and, of course, humanity will go further than ever in the solar system, "concluded Bridenstine.

STEM – "Alabama has some really great programs"

Bridenstine and Aderholt also spoke to members of the media present, sharing their enthusiasm for modern space exploration – and what the future could hold for students like those of Arab.

They both recalled that pedagogical tools such as the robotics and STEM programs they witnessed on Friday had helped prepare students for real careers. The administrator added that at Arab High School and other similar institutions, he hoped that NASA could "inspire" students to take the STEM path.

"When we talk about what the United States of America needs to do to become the leader in the future, we need to get people involved in STEM education programs – across the country," he said. recommended Bridenstine. "And of course, Alabama has some really amazing programs, some really great people."

Speaking later with the state's representative, Wes Kitchens (R-Arab), Bridenstine emphasized the importance of state-federal partnerships for NASA.

Legislators such as Kitchens and State Sen. Clay Scofield (R-Guntersville) strongly support the development of the workforce – that it's about a training technical or STEM training – are important to build the highly qualified pipeline that allows NASA and places like Marshall Space Flight Center to operate.

The kitchens told Yellowhammer News: "Many of these things teach children what it means in a real-world application. Not only see him in class, but also be able to prepare for the career once their high school graduation is over. "

"The Marshall Space Flight Center is so important to this region and for the entire district that it has such an economic impact that kids are able to see and hopefully inspire it so that They become the next engineer or astronaut or whatever they want, "he added.

The establishment of high quality broadband networks is an important element that allows the success of STEM programs and workforce development like this one, especially in rural areas like county from Marshall. Scofield recently led the charge to the legislature to expand rural broadband access across Alabama.

S addressing Yellowhammer News, he described the development efforts of the workforce as "critical".

"We have done everything we can to invest locally," said Scofield. "We have been doing this for nine years and we are really seeing the results here."

"When we heard the NASA administrator ask what these kids wanted to do and say," precision machining, "well, that investment paid off," he said. "It creates great opportunities for these young people."

Scofield concluded that the development of the workforce must continue to be invested at the national and local levels.

You can view a tweet thread of the event, including photos and video clips, right here.

Sean Ross is the publisher of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

[ad_2]

Source link