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 Their trip to the CLC was sponsored by the Heritage
in Flight Museum through a bequest HIF received from the estate of
Allan Lurie. Allan was a long-time member of Heritage in Flight, a
pilot, and a teacher at Peoria Central High School.
“Dad would have been very pleased that his legacy was spent on an
educational day for the students at West Lincoln Broadwell,” said
his daughter Celeste Restrepo.
This year the student’s mission at CLC was rendezvous with a comet.
The students were divided into two teams, one at Mission Control on
Earth, and the other on the orbiting space station. The goal of the
mission was to launch a probe from the space station to pass through
the tail of the comet to collect information on all sorts of
parameters.
The students were prepared for their day at the Challenger Learning
Center by West Lincoln Broadwell science teacher Barb Bowlby and
math teacher Val Mammen. “We spent three weeks in class going
through the lessons that would help the students focus on their
mission,” said Mrs. Mammen. Both Mrs. Bowlby and Mrs. Mammen have
been through the Challenger Learning Center teacher preparation
course many times, so their students are always at the top of their
game when they get to CLC. And it shows.
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While the main mission was the launch of the probe,
the students were also engaged in other duties that were necessary
for the safe and successful conclusion of the mission. They learned
to work together at their tasks, how to respond to emergencies, and
how to follow the detailed instructions for the successful
completion of the mission.
The day was a complete success, and the students were congratulated
by video by astronaut Scott Altman, a central Illinois native.
After the successful conclusion of the mission, the class took a one
hour physics lesson taught by a member of the Challenger Learning
Center staff.
It was a busy and exciting day for the students. A trip to the
Challenger Learning Center with real life experiential problem
solving situations is not your typical day in the classroom. “This
is an experience our students will remember for a long time,” said
Mrs. Bowlby.
On Saturday, January 11th a group of students will attend Heritage
in Flight’s monthly meeting. Everyone will meet at the museum at 10
a.m. and the students will report on their space station learning
experience at CLC.
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