[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19606-19607]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TEACHING FROM SPACE PROGRAM

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, April 10, 2003, brought a new educational 
milestone to my State.

[[Page 19607]]

  On that date, Alaska students from one of the most rural school 
districts in our Nation were the first Alaskans to take part in a live 
hook-up with astronauts in space.
  Using distance learning technology, youngsters from my States 
Southwest Region School District spoke to the three-member crew of the 
International Space Station as astronauts orbited the Earth.
  These students were participating in NASA's Teaching From Space 
Program, which includes science, math, and geography instruction, and 
features a live video question-and-answer session with the astronauts 
aboard the space station.
  This session complemented a 6 week educational program, developed by 
our Challenger Learning Center in Kenai, which was included in the 
curriculum of the Southwest Region School District.
  While the Teaching From Space Program has provided unique and 
motivating educational experiences to students across our country for 
many years, only recently were Alaska schools able to take advantage of 
the NASA program.
  Until a few short months ago, no schools in rural Alaska had 
technology to allow teachers and students to communicate via video with 
others outside their villages.
  Now that is changing, as some schools use distance learning 
technology to virtually bring new teachers and subjects into their 
classrooms.
  The Southwest Region School District, one of the first in Alaska to 
install distance learning technology, is located on the southern coast 
of the Bering Sea, 350 miles southwest of Anchorage.
  Eight villages are served by this school district, only one of which 
is accessible by road. The others are up to 120 miles from the school 
district's headquarters in Dillingham and may only be reached by air in 
winter. Some are accessible by river during summer months when, of 
course, our schools are closed.
  The 779 students in the school district are primarily Yu'pik Eskimos. 
Most non-Native villagers in this region are employed as teachers.
  During their 20-minute conversation with the International Space 
Station crew, students at Manokotak school asked questions about 
geography and space on behalf of their fellow students throughout the 
district. They watched as U.S. astronauts Ken Bowersox and Don Pettit 
and Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin, floating inside the space 
station, answered their questions.
  There was a special surprise, when the students learned that Alaska's 
own NASA astronaut, Bill Oefelein, who hails from Anchorage, flew from 
Houston to Manokotak to be with the students on their special day.
  Many individuals and organizations contributed to the success of this 
educational achievement. This was a collaborative effort achievement. 
This was a collaborative effort of NASA, the Southwest Region School 
District, the Challenger Learning Center, and GCI.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all the individuals names 
be printed in the Record following my remarks.

       Sean O'Keefe, NASA Administrator.
       Lieutenant William Oefelein, USN, NASA astronaut: flew to 
     Manokotak to be on-site with the students.
       Gwendolyn Brown, NASA: coordinated public affairs for the 
     event.
       Cindy McArthur, NASA: guided Manokotak teachers through the 
     Teaching from Space program.
       Kelly McCormick, NASA: guided Manokotak teachers through 
     the Teaching from Space program.
       Scott Anderson, NASA: guided Manokotak teachers through the 
     Teaching from Space program.
       Robin Hart, NASA: guided Manokotak teachers through the 
     Teaching from Space program.
       Randy Cash, NASA: managed the audio portion of the program.
       Glenn Peterson, NASA: Mission Control Specialist.
       Superintendent Mark Hiratsuka, Southwest Region School 
     District: secured approvals for the program.
       Tim Whaling, Southwest Region School District: coordinated 
     the educational curriculum for the program.
       Karen Swenson, Southwest Region School District: secured 
     approvals for the program.
       Steve Noonkesser, Southwest Region School District: managed 
     the school district's technology and coordination with GCI.
       David Piazza, Southwest Region School District: managed the 
     school district's technology.
       Principal David Legg, Manokotak School: secured facilities 
     and staff for the program.
       Kirk Kofford, Manokotak School: prepared students for the 
     NASA link up and taught the NASA distance learning 
     curriculum.
       Dana Bartman, Manokotak School: prepared students for the 
     link-up.
       Nate Preston, Manokotak School: coordinated photography and 
     publishing for the program.
       Steve Horn, Challenger Learning Center of Alaska: secured 
     educational curriculum for the school district.
       Jamie Meyers, Challenger Learning Center of Alaska: 
     coordinated curriculum between the center and the school 
     district.
       Martin Cary, GCI: secured telecommunications resources and 
     personnel to link NASA and the school district.
       Greg Dutton, GCI-SchoolAccess: managed GCI's participation.
       David Morris, GCI: managed public affairs for the program.
       Anna Sattler, GCI: coordinated communication between 
     participants.
       Tom Elmore, GCI: coordinated the video teleconference 
     connection with school district sites.
       Chad Parker, GCI: coordinated technology needs.
       Brian Lichner, GCI: managed the NASA TV downlink in 
     Anchorage.
       Rob Knorr, GCI: managed the NASA TV downlink in Juneau.
       Greg Farmer, GCI: managed the NASA TV feed in Juneau.
       Doug Keil, GCI: connected the NASA TV feed in Anchorage to 
     GCI-SchoolAccess.
       Mark Dinneen, GCI: managed government relations for the 
     program.
       John Raffetto, Infotech Strategies: managed communication 
     between all participants.
       Nicole Angarella, Infotech Strategies: coordinated 
     logistics and on-site materials.
       Tracy Krughoff, Infotech Strategies: assisted school 
     district with applications.
       Angela Mathwig, Infotech Strategies: coordinated logistics 
     and on-site materials.
       Christopher Capps: coordinated astronaut participation.
       Mike Donovan Hausler: managed design and production of 
     graphic art.

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