NASA astronauts spoke to Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) students last month live from the International Space Station, one of only two operational space stations and the longest-orbiting space station to date.
The event, called a “downlink,” posed a unique opportunity for students to interact with astronauts in real time and for the district to encourage participation in Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways.
Questions were submitted by CHCCS students in advance of the event, after which the school district selected certain questions to be recorded and sent to the ISS.
Planning for the event, which took place September 13, took about ten months, beginning last November.
“Once our proposal was accepted in early spring, we put a planning team together that included staff members from various schools and the district’s CTE and IT departments,” Michael Woods, the district’s CTE Instructional Management Coordinator, said. “We needed each school to develop a process for collecting student questions and then select one question that would be shared with NASA.”
There were 19 CHCCS schools represented overall, with each school selecting a student to pose a question to the NASA astronauts.
The event took place alongside a STEM career fair outside of the auditorium to promote student participation in Chapel Hill High School’s numerous CTE courses.
“Our hope was that students would want to learn more about CTE courses they can take in high school or what career options are available after they graduate,” Woods said. “Students across the district should know there is a place for them in STEM.”
Students taking the school’s Biomedical Interventions course were invited to the downlink. The course includes a unit focusing on the challenges space travel presents to humans.
“I liked attending it, since we were able to connect some of the concepts from class with the downlink,” senior Matthew Hawley said.
Other Biomedical Interventions students expressed that the event may have been more useful to younger students.
“It was a good experience,” senior David Mirikwe said. “I’m glad that we were able to attend and that the downlink might spark interest in CTEs from elementary and middle schoolers.”
Chapel Hill High School’s CTE coordinator, Jennifer Walker, said she was pleased with the event overall.
“I loved seeing students from each school included in the questions,” Walker said. “The live connection to the ISS is a memory of a lifetime.”
