October 4, 2002

Walk on the moon at the McAuliffe Center

By Jennifer Miller
Staff Writer

     Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven.Wide-eyed middle school students await the countdown to one as their space shuttle prepares for take-off.
 
   Dressed in blue NASA garb made to replicate the official  astronaut gear, the students adjust their headsets at Mission Control as the shuttle heads for the great unknown.
 
   "Education simulation is the main focus" at the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center for Education and Teaching Excellence, says Mary E. Liscombe, the Center's assistant director.  The McAuliffe Center is named for Christa Corrigan McAuliffe, a high school teacher who died shortly after lift-off on The Challenger space shuttle.
 
   According to Liscombe, McAuliffe "believed in the importance of space" and took the responsibility of being the first teacher in space very seriously.
 
   Liscombe is not only well informed about the forty-five Challenger Centers around the United States and Europe, but also knew Christa Corrigan McAuliffe before her brave journey into space.
 
   Liscombe recalls that "Christa went to a conference in New York City while she was in College, and at this conference there were a few astronauts ...   When she came back, Christa remarked that 'Yeah, I'd definitely like to do that someday.'"
 
   After Christa graduated from Framingham State College, she went on to Bowie State University, and received her Master's Degree. During her first teaching job in Concord, New Hampshire, she developed an original course on the History of Women based on journals, diaries, and readings about women.
 
   Liscombe says, "She was a pioneer, and I think that her interest in women's history and her interest in the importance in journals is what really helped her become a teacher in space. Her journey was to be based on journals and recording the journey, which is really important."
 
   Christa's journey into space was important to women and teachers around the country, according to Liscombe, because "Christa was to be the first private citizen in space. Most people who were going to space were going as a scientific experiment, usually for a company, or politicians. But she was going to be representing a group that was not commercial. She was representing teachers."
 
   Christa was on board the Challenger with six other crewmembers when it exploded in space on January 28, 1986 just seventy- three seconds after its lift- off.
 
   The idea for a center was developed before Christa actually went into space. However, after Christa's death, the Challenger Center was then named after the Framingham State College graduate who risked her life for women and teachers everywhere.
 
   The center was originally located in a small office here at the College, and in 1994, it was relocated to its current, and newly renovated location in O'Connor Hall
 
   In 1994, the families of the Challenger crew and the other teachers who applied for the "Teacher in Space" program founded the Challenger Centers. The first center was established in Houston, Texas.
 
   "No one wanted their kids to be discouraged from pursuing their dreams, so the Challenger Centers were developed as a way to encourage children," says Liscombe.
 
   The McAuliffe Center uses education simulation to teach children about responsibility and communication by use of a simulated spacecraft and mission control station.
 
   In February of 1995, the McAuliffe Center hosted its first space mission with students. The center hosts middle school - grades fifth through eighth. The classes endure a flight simulation similar to what an actual flight into space would be like, and the children are essentially in charge of their missions.
 
   "We flew to the Moon for three years, and today, we are going to Comet Encke," says Liscombe.
 
   The room is filled with children from a seventh grade class, who transform from students to astronauts as soon as they enter mission control, and receive their NASA gear.
 
  "The fifth graders actually believe they are going to space," says Liscombe. "The eighth graders understand it a little more, but sometimes by the end of the mission, they even feel like they've had an exciting adventure in space. The power of education simulation is amazing."
 
   The room where half of the students sit is Mission Control, filled with stations equipped with headphones and computer screens to see where they are sending the space shuttle.
 
   The other students are in a room made to replicate a space shuttle, similar to the Challenger.
 
   The children are taught teamwork, reactions, responsibility, and effectivecommunication with each other. The experience can be intense as students' voices fill the center with, "Whoa! Cool!" or "Wow!"
 
   Nearly ten thousand students a year visit the McAuliffe Center.  "This center is designed for children in middle school," says Liscombe.  "Research has shown that although you don't hear the kids say it while they're in Middle School, there are a lot of thought processes and ideas that are going through the child's mind that may affect what they want to do with their life."
 
   The idea that there are a lot of possibilities and risks in life is a concept emphasized during the McAuliffe's Center's education simulation.
 
   The newly renovated McAuliffe Center not only invites children to partake in simulated flights to space, but also works with teachers on how to be an effective role model, and an effective teacher.
 
   The Center is maintained and supported by donations given by partners of Challenger Centers and also through the professional development that is offered to schools and their teachers.
 
   "For several years after Christa was involved in the program, the number of people interested in teacher education increased dramatically, so obviously, Christa had some influence on the public's perception  of what classroom teachers do," says Ray Griffin, Director of The McAuliffe Center.
 
   The public school systems and teachers hire employees of the Challenger Centers to teach professional development and teaching skills to teachers, and teachers in training.
 
   The McAuliffe Center also awards scholarships to Framingham State College students. Incoming freshmen and transfer students are eligible for this award, and could potentially be granted $1000.
 
   The Center is also non-profit, and relies on donations, as well as the income from their professional development courses. No money from Framingham State College tuition is utilized at the McAuliffe Center.
 
   The McAuliffe Center also has partners who help with donations, and the business of the Challenger Center. These groups are small in number, but prestigious in name, and include NASA, Framingham State College, The Harvard Center for Astrophysics, NSTA (National Science Teachers Association), NCTM (National Council for Teachers
of Math), and the Massachusetts Department of Education.
 
   Framingham State College students are more than welcome at the McAuliffe Center. The staff at the Center asks that anyone who wants to visit the McAuliffe Center make an appointment.

Some facts about The Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center:

  • The Center is located in back of O'Connor Hall.

  • Ten thousand students a year attend the McAuliffe Center, and the Center has been open for eight years. that's approximately 80,000 students!

   • The Center works with Framingham State College students in the Education Department to help better educate them on the professional development of becoming a teacher.

   •To make an appointment at the McAuliffe Center for a tour, contact:
The Christa McAuliffe Center
Framingham State College
P.O. Box 9101
100 State Street
Framingham, MA 01701-9101
E-Mail:
christa@frc.mass.edu
Phone: 508-626-4050
Fax: 508-626-4059