Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Centerville Man Returns From NASA Institute
 |
| Dan Johnson of Centerville shows off a teacher’s lesson binder and a bag with a NASA emblem that he received during a two-week institute for future and beginning teachers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. (RANDY DOCKENDORF/P&D) |
BY RANDY DOCKENDORF
randy.dockendorf@yankton.net
CENTERVILLE — Dan Johnson had always dreamed of being an astronaut. This month, he met a group of the space travelers.
And hopefully, he will teach a future astronaut.
The Centerville man recently returned from the two-week Pre-Service Teacher Institute (PSTI) at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. He was among only 20 future or beginning early childhood and elementary teachers chosen from 6,000 applicants in eight states.
PSTI seeks to reach teachers, who in turn will educate students to meet the long-term engineering needs of the space program and other career fields.
“NASA is losing engineers. More are leaving than entering the field,” Johnson said. “NASA needs to replace them as well as add more.”
By 2020, NASA plans to take the Hubble Space telescope out of orbit and send a manned flight to the moon, Johnson said. By 2030, NASA plans to send a manned flight to Mars.
“The average age of an astronaut is 40, so today’s students would be the right age,” he said. “If you catch children at a young age, you can encourage them and keep them interested all the way through college.”
Johnson said his NASA selection fulfills his lifelong fascination with outer space.
“In the third grade, I wanted to be an astronaut. It was a big learning experience when they had a picture on TV of the landing on the moon and the splashdown,” he said. “But now that I’m 44, I decided I probably wouldn’t be doing that anymore. This (institute) would be the closest I would come to being an astronaut.”
Johnson recently made a career change and is studying elementary education at Augustana College in Sioux Falls. He learned about PSTI through an Augustana professor.
Johnson was the only PSTI member chosen from South Dakota. At 44, Johnson wasn’t the oldest participant. One person was two days older than him, and another person was 10 years older and a grandmother.
Johnson’s “homework” began before he reached Texas. Participants were sent seeds taken on a space shuttle, whose development was later compared to seeds which remained on earth.
PSTI began as a four-day program in 2003 but was expanded this year to two weeks. Participants interacted with NASA personnel and toured Johnson Space Center facilities. The days were long and intense, starting at 5:30 a.m. and ending around 11 p.m.
During the first week on the Texas Southern University campus, PSTI participants used simple items to test principles such as rocketry and Newton’s Laws of Motion.
On the last day in the classroom, they taught two grade levels of students from a local YMCA. The racially-mixed group provided a different classroom environment for Johnson, who works mostly with white students in South Dakota.
“All the kids are the same, regardless of their cultural or ethnic group,” he said. “You see their faces when they come together. They all want to learn.”
NASA marks its 50th anniversary this year, and those students could provide the key to its future, Johnson said.
“NASA has 15,000 employees and only 100 of them are astronauts,” he said. “They need engineers, robotics and security personnel.”
During PSTI’s second week, the group attended sessions in the NASA education building at the Johnson Space Center. Amidst tight security, they toured the lunar vault with moon rock. Another display includes remnants of space flights.
But the biggest thrill for Johnson came from meeting a group of astronauts, including Sioux Falls native Mike Fossum. Norm Chaffee, a rocket builder and propulsion engineer, also spoke to the group.
The astronauts shook hands with the PSTI group and shared special moments on their flight, which Johnson said made them seem more accessible.
“You always think (the astronauts) are untouchable,” he said. “Then they shared their personal videos from the flight, and you find they were having as much fun as we would.”
During the institute, Johnson learned of an increasing use of robotics in space. “It won’t replace the actual person, but it decreases the danger factor and unsure risks,” he said, noting the impact on the space program after the Challenger explosion.
Interest continues in the space travel, Johnson said. New developments include the James Webb space telescope and Virgin Galactic’s efforts to offer space flights to civilians.
“We will see if they continue with the (federal government’s) plans after the next election,” Johnson said. “The president proposes the mission, but Congress funds it.”
The United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a space race during the 1960s, which propelled NASA and the study of science and math, Johnson said. Now, other nations are surpassing the United States in engineering and science programs, he said.
At the end of the two-week PSTI session, Johnson received the “Shining Star Award.” He believes he won the award because of his willingness to help other participants.
“The younger kids would come by with technical issues, because they knew I had been in IT (information technology),” he said. “I enjoyed working with the younger students. They were trying to get the perspective of someone older than 21 or 22.”
NASA plans to expand the PSTI program in the coming years, starting with 40 participants next year and eventually reaching 100, Johnson said.
Johnson said he is sharing his story to encourage more teachers in the state to pursue the PSTI program.
“As a future educator of South Dakota, I feel it is important I share what I learned and hopefully involve more pre-service teachers to become involved with NASA programs,” he said.
Johnson will student-teach second grade next spring in Centerville — in the same classroom he attended as a young boy. Shelley Diercks, the current second-grade teacher, said he already anticipates that his class will benefit from Johnson’s experiences.
“When Dan told me he was going down to Texas for this NASA thing, I thought it was great — we’re going to study space, too,” Diercks said.
Johnson will put a face on NASA when he teaches students, Diercks said.
“I think Dan is going to bring a lot of updates and realism into his lessons on space,” Diercks said. “There is a credibility he will bring.”
Diercks said he believes Johnson will inspire students with this summer’s experiences.
“Dan will interest the kids and improve their learning about space,” Diercks said. “I look for Dan to address the total picture. I’m interested in the question: Is there life in outer space?”
Johnson will also inspire teachers to check out PSTI, Diercks said.
“It’s a great program to fire you up and promote that kind of interest in a teacher,” Diercks said.
Johnson says he is excited to see what lies in outer space and even beyond.
“I can’t wait for the future,” he said.
And hopefully, he will teach a future astronaut.
The Centerville man recently returned from the two-week Pre-Service Teacher Institute (PSTI) at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. He was among only 20 future or beginning early childhood and elementary teachers chosen from 6,000 applicants in eight states.
PSTI seeks to reach teachers, who in turn will educate students to meet the long-term engineering needs of the space program and other career fields.
“NASA is losing engineers. More are leaving than entering the field,” Johnson said. “NASA needs to replace them as well as add more.”
By 2020, NASA plans to take the Hubble Space telescope out of orbit and send a manned flight to the moon, Johnson said. By 2030, NASA plans to send a manned flight to Mars.
“The average age of an astronaut is 40, so today’s students would be the right age,” he said. “If you catch children at a young age, you can encourage them and keep them interested all the way through college.”
Johnson said his NASA selection fulfills his lifelong fascination with outer space.
“In the third grade, I wanted to be an astronaut. It was a big learning experience when they had a picture on TV of the landing on the moon and the splashdown,” he said. “But now that I’m 44, I decided I probably wouldn’t be doing that anymore. This (institute) would be the closest I would come to being an astronaut.”
Johnson recently made a career change and is studying elementary education at Augustana College in Sioux Falls. He learned about PSTI through an Augustana professor.
Johnson was the only PSTI member chosen from South Dakota. At 44, Johnson wasn’t the oldest participant. One person was two days older than him, and another person was 10 years older and a grandmother.
Johnson’s “homework” began before he reached Texas. Participants were sent seeds taken on a space shuttle, whose development was later compared to seeds which remained on earth.
PSTI began as a four-day program in 2003 but was expanded this year to two weeks. Participants interacted with NASA personnel and toured Johnson Space Center facilities. The days were long and intense, starting at 5:30 a.m. and ending around 11 p.m.
During the first week on the Texas Southern University campus, PSTI participants used simple items to test principles such as rocketry and Newton’s Laws of Motion.
On the last day in the classroom, they taught two grade levels of students from a local YMCA. The racially-mixed group provided a different classroom environment for Johnson, who works mostly with white students in South Dakota.
“All the kids are the same, regardless of their cultural or ethnic group,” he said. “You see their faces when they come together. They all want to learn.”
NASA marks its 50th anniversary this year, and those students could provide the key to its future, Johnson said.
“NASA has 15,000 employees and only 100 of them are astronauts,” he said. “They need engineers, robotics and security personnel.”
During PSTI’s second week, the group attended sessions in the NASA education building at the Johnson Space Center. Amidst tight security, they toured the lunar vault with moon rock. Another display includes remnants of space flights.
But the biggest thrill for Johnson came from meeting a group of astronauts, including Sioux Falls native Mike Fossum. Norm Chaffee, a rocket builder and propulsion engineer, also spoke to the group.
The astronauts shook hands with the PSTI group and shared special moments on their flight, which Johnson said made them seem more accessible.
“You always think (the astronauts) are untouchable,” he said. “Then they shared their personal videos from the flight, and you find they were having as much fun as we would.”
During the institute, Johnson learned of an increasing use of robotics in space. “It won’t replace the actual person, but it decreases the danger factor and unsure risks,” he said, noting the impact on the space program after the Challenger explosion.
Interest continues in the space travel, Johnson said. New developments include the James Webb space telescope and Virgin Galactic’s efforts to offer space flights to civilians.
“We will see if they continue with the (federal government’s) plans after the next election,” Johnson said. “The president proposes the mission, but Congress funds it.”
The United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a space race during the 1960s, which propelled NASA and the study of science and math, Johnson said. Now, other nations are surpassing the United States in engineering and science programs, he said.
At the end of the two-week PSTI session, Johnson received the “Shining Star Award.” He believes he won the award because of his willingness to help other participants.
“The younger kids would come by with technical issues, because they knew I had been in IT (information technology),” he said. “I enjoyed working with the younger students. They were trying to get the perspective of someone older than 21 or 22.”
NASA plans to expand the PSTI program in the coming years, starting with 40 participants next year and eventually reaching 100, Johnson said.
Johnson said he is sharing his story to encourage more teachers in the state to pursue the PSTI program.
“As a future educator of South Dakota, I feel it is important I share what I learned and hopefully involve more pre-service teachers to become involved with NASA programs,” he said.
Johnson will student-teach second grade next spring in Centerville — in the same classroom he attended as a young boy. Shelley Diercks, the current second-grade teacher, said he already anticipates that his class will benefit from Johnson’s experiences.
“When Dan told me he was going down to Texas for this NASA thing, I thought it was great — we’re going to study space, too,” Diercks said.
Johnson will put a face on NASA when he teaches students, Diercks said.
“I think Dan is going to bring a lot of updates and realism into his lessons on space,” Diercks said. “There is a credibility he will bring.”
Diercks said he believes Johnson will inspire students with this summer’s experiences.
“Dan will interest the kids and improve their learning about space,” Diercks said. “I look for Dan to address the total picture. I’m interested in the question: Is there life in outer space?”
Johnson will also inspire teachers to check out PSTI, Diercks said.
“It’s a great program to fire you up and promote that kind of interest in a teacher,” Diercks said.
Johnson says he is excited to see what lies in outer space and even beyond.
“I can’t wait for the future,” he said.
 |
 |
|
| City Urges Community Input For Downtown | City To Move Forward With SAC Comfort Station |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
Submit a Comment
We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.
Not registered yet?
