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Centerville Man Selected For NASA Student Ambassadors Program
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| Centerville resident Dan Johnson and his 9-year-old son, David, work with the computer at their kitchen table. Johnson, an Augustana College senior, has been selected among 43 “NASA Student Ambassadors” nationwide. He will promote astronomy and NASA activities in 2009, the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s discoveries with the telescope. (RANDY DOCKENDORF/P&D) |
BY RANDY DOCKENDORF
randy.dockendorf@yankton.net
CENTERVILLE — Most people celebrate an anniversary by exchanging gifts or going out to dinner.
Instead, Dan Johnson is buying a telescope.
The Centerville man has been selected as one of 43 college students nationwide for the NASA International Year of Astronomy (IYA) Student Ambassadors Program. He was chosen from among 2,000 applicants for the NASA and National Space Grant Foundation program.
“The program runs through all of 2009,” Johnson said. “We are celebrating 400 years since Galileo made discoveries with a telescope.”
Johnson plans an appropriate purchase to mark the anniversary.
“I will receive $2,000 stipend for participating as an IYA ambassador, and I will use it to purchase a telescope with a digital imager for photos,” he said. “I will use it at an observatory for pictures, and I will also work with it at events and with educators.”
Besides the $2,000 stipend, he will be reimbursed up to $700 at the end of the year to cover his expenses.
Johnson learned of the NASA program through Drew Alton, his physics and astronomy professor at Augustana College in Sioux Falls. The NASA program proved extremely competitive.
“You have to get a letter of recommendation from a professor in your major, which for me is elementary education,” Johnson said. “I also had to write two essays on how and what I could contribute as an ambassador for the program.”
Johnson was also in the running during the selection of two delegates to an international conference in Paris.
As a NASA student ambassador, Johnson will stimulate interest in astronomy — particularly NASA scientific discoveries — and the benefit for society. He remains open to invitations for speaking and giving demonstrations at events ranging from classrooms to observatories to community groups.
“I can visit museums, planetariums and amateur astronomy clubs,” he said. “We have training and events throughout the country.”
The NASA ambassador program contains four major goals:
• provide opportunities for youth and adults to make their own observations of the universe;
• increase awareness of astronomy, including common misconceptions;
• strengthen interest in science and science education;
• enhance collaboration across and beyond NASA.
The ability to teach all ages fits perfectly with Johnson’s career plans. After graduating in May from Augustana, he will begin graduate work next summer at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. He is pursuing his master’s degree for technology in education and training.
“My approach as a teacher is for my students to find out why science is very important. I will create real-life connections,” he said. “My son, David, is 9 and a Cub Scout. He got a telescope (for his Scouting projects) and would go out and look at the stars.”
Johnson wants to spread the passion for astronomy that he found at an early age.
“Growing up, I had a lot of interest in outer space. I was interested in ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Battlestar Galactica,’” he said. “We used to bring the black-and-white television into the grade school to watch the (astronauts’) splash-downs. I skipped school to watch the first space shuttle when I was a freshman in high school.”
Today’s educators can help stimulate that same interest, Johnson said.
“As a teacher, I hope I inspire students to look at things a different way,” he said. “As teachers, we need to provide opportunities and experiences that are closer to home.”
Johnson and the other NASA ambassadors must fulfill a number of requirements. He must complete a journal that he will submit to NASA officials at the end of the year. He will take part in special events, such as teleconferences with NASA engineers and scientists and a large conference for educators.
Johnson will maintain Internet contact with NASA officials and the other ambassadors throughout the year. In addition, he hopes to visit planetariums in Minneapolis, Kansas City and Omaha.
“Through all of 2009, each month we chart our progress and we check the calendar of the IYA,” he said.
Johnson also plans to alert the public of upcoming astronomical events, such as sun dogs. “We have to create a greater awareness of all of this. If you know about it ahead of time, you can promote it,” he said.
The IYA ambassadorship marks the second major NASA selection for Johnson in the past year. He was previously chosen for 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.
By 2020, NASA plans to take the Hubbell 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, he added.
Johnson found a home-state connection during his visit to the Johnson Space Center.
“I met Mike Fossum, an astronaut from South Dakota, at a debriefing that was done with the last space shuttle flight,” he said, adding that Fossum provides a role model for South Dakota students.
Johnson also gained a souvenir — seeds that were part of a NASA experiment. “You had the seeds in space and the seeds that never left space. We would see if they developed differently,” he said.
Now, he plans to plant the seeds when he begins his student teaching on Monday in the Centerville second-grade classroom — the same room he attended as a boy.
Shelley Diercks, the Centerville second-grade teacher, previously said he 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 at the time.
Johnson said he maintains a sense of awe about outer space and looks forward to sharing it with the Centerville second graders.
“In reality, the light you see from the stars could be from millions of years ago,” he said. “That’s when you see how huge the universe is, and how small we are.”
Johnson has also honed his astronomy interest after discovering the Hodgson Observatory at Beresford.
“I didn’t know there was an observatory 12 miles away (from Centerville),” Johnson said. “I needed a contact for the local astronomy club. Dick Hodgson had the information I was looking for, and he offered recommendations.”
Johnson has also worked with “Smath,” or a cross-disciplined course in science and math, during a month-long course at Augustana.
After completing his student teaching at Centerville in March, Johnson will undertake a STARBASE internship through the Department of Defense. The internship will dovetail well with his IYA ambassadorship, he said.
DoD STARBASE is a premier educational program, sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. At STARBASE, students participate in challenging “hands-on, mind-on” activities in aviation, science, technology, engineering, math and space exploration. They interact with military personnel to explore careers and make connections with the “real world.” Students also learn teamwork, goal setting, and the importance of staying off drugs.
The program provides students with 20-25 hours of stimulating experiences at National Guard, Navy, Marine, Air Force Reserve and Air Force bases across the nation.
NASA marked its 50th anniversary in 2008, and Johnson said he remains amazed at the space agency’s achievements in a relatively short amount of time.
“We see how far we have come in science. Look at the spin-off of laptops, clothing and materials for firefighters,” he said. “We have the technology with engineers and scientists that has affected our quality of life. If we inspire students to pursue these type of careers, it will benefit society as a whole.”
Johnson has no plans for visiting outer space. However, he holds high hopes that one of his students will someday soar through the heavens.
“I hope one of my students walks on Mars in 2030, and he or she can say, ‘Mr. Johnson was my teacher,’” he said.
Instead, Dan Johnson is buying a telescope.
The Centerville man has been selected as one of 43 college students nationwide for the NASA International Year of Astronomy (IYA) Student Ambassadors Program. He was chosen from among 2,000 applicants for the NASA and National Space Grant Foundation program.
“The program runs through all of 2009,” Johnson said. “We are celebrating 400 years since Galileo made discoveries with a telescope.”
Johnson plans an appropriate purchase to mark the anniversary.
“I will receive $2,000 stipend for participating as an IYA ambassador, and I will use it to purchase a telescope with a digital imager for photos,” he said. “I will use it at an observatory for pictures, and I will also work with it at events and with educators.”
Besides the $2,000 stipend, he will be reimbursed up to $700 at the end of the year to cover his expenses.
Johnson learned of the NASA program through Drew Alton, his physics and astronomy professor at Augustana College in Sioux Falls. The NASA program proved extremely competitive.
“You have to get a letter of recommendation from a professor in your major, which for me is elementary education,” Johnson said. “I also had to write two essays on how and what I could contribute as an ambassador for the program.”
Johnson was also in the running during the selection of two delegates to an international conference in Paris.
As a NASA student ambassador, Johnson will stimulate interest in astronomy — particularly NASA scientific discoveries — and the benefit for society. He remains open to invitations for speaking and giving demonstrations at events ranging from classrooms to observatories to community groups.
“I can visit museums, planetariums and amateur astronomy clubs,” he said. “We have training and events throughout the country.”
The NASA ambassador program contains four major goals:
• provide opportunities for youth and adults to make their own observations of the universe;
• increase awareness of astronomy, including common misconceptions;
• strengthen interest in science and science education;
• enhance collaboration across and beyond NASA.
The ability to teach all ages fits perfectly with Johnson’s career plans. After graduating in May from Augustana, he will begin graduate work next summer at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. He is pursuing his master’s degree for technology in education and training.
“My approach as a teacher is for my students to find out why science is very important. I will create real-life connections,” he said. “My son, David, is 9 and a Cub Scout. He got a telescope (for his Scouting projects) and would go out and look at the stars.”
Johnson wants to spread the passion for astronomy that he found at an early age.
“Growing up, I had a lot of interest in outer space. I was interested in ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Battlestar Galactica,’” he said. “We used to bring the black-and-white television into the grade school to watch the (astronauts’) splash-downs. I skipped school to watch the first space shuttle when I was a freshman in high school.”
Today’s educators can help stimulate that same interest, Johnson said.
“As a teacher, I hope I inspire students to look at things a different way,” he said. “As teachers, we need to provide opportunities and experiences that are closer to home.”
Johnson and the other NASA ambassadors must fulfill a number of requirements. He must complete a journal that he will submit to NASA officials at the end of the year. He will take part in special events, such as teleconferences with NASA engineers and scientists and a large conference for educators.
Johnson will maintain Internet contact with NASA officials and the other ambassadors throughout the year. In addition, he hopes to visit planetariums in Minneapolis, Kansas City and Omaha.
“Through all of 2009, each month we chart our progress and we check the calendar of the IYA,” he said.
Johnson also plans to alert the public of upcoming astronomical events, such as sun dogs. “We have to create a greater awareness of all of this. If you know about it ahead of time, you can promote it,” he said.
The IYA ambassadorship marks the second major NASA selection for Johnson in the past year. He was previously chosen for 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.
By 2020, NASA plans to take the Hubbell 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, he added.
Johnson found a home-state connection during his visit to the Johnson Space Center.
“I met Mike Fossum, an astronaut from South Dakota, at a debriefing that was done with the last space shuttle flight,” he said, adding that Fossum provides a role model for South Dakota students.
Johnson also gained a souvenir — seeds that were part of a NASA experiment. “You had the seeds in space and the seeds that never left space. We would see if they developed differently,” he said.
Now, he plans to plant the seeds when he begins his student teaching on Monday in the Centerville second-grade classroom — the same room he attended as a boy.
Shelley Diercks, the Centerville second-grade teacher, previously said he 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 at the time.
Johnson said he maintains a sense of awe about outer space and looks forward to sharing it with the Centerville second graders.
“In reality, the light you see from the stars could be from millions of years ago,” he said. “That’s when you see how huge the universe is, and how small we are.”
Johnson has also honed his astronomy interest after discovering the Hodgson Observatory at Beresford.
“I didn’t know there was an observatory 12 miles away (from Centerville),” Johnson said. “I needed a contact for the local astronomy club. Dick Hodgson had the information I was looking for, and he offered recommendations.”
Johnson has also worked with “Smath,” or a cross-disciplined course in science and math, during a month-long course at Augustana.
After completing his student teaching at Centerville in March, Johnson will undertake a STARBASE internship through the Department of Defense. The internship will dovetail well with his IYA ambassadorship, he said.
DoD STARBASE is a premier educational program, sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. At STARBASE, students participate in challenging “hands-on, mind-on” activities in aviation, science, technology, engineering, math and space exploration. They interact with military personnel to explore careers and make connections with the “real world.” Students also learn teamwork, goal setting, and the importance of staying off drugs.
The program provides students with 20-25 hours of stimulating experiences at National Guard, Navy, Marine, Air Force Reserve and Air Force bases across the nation.
NASA marked its 50th anniversary in 2008, and Johnson said he remains amazed at the space agency’s achievements in a relatively short amount of time.
“We see how far we have come in science. Look at the spin-off of laptops, clothing and materials for firefighters,” he said. “We have the technology with engineers and scientists that has affected our quality of life. If we inspire students to pursue these type of careers, it will benefit society as a whole.”
Johnson has no plans for visiting outer space. However, he holds high hopes that one of his students will someday soar through the heavens.
“I hope one of my students walks on Mars in 2030, and he or she can say, ‘Mr. Johnson was my teacher,’” he said.
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