DSEA Action!

Making a difference Suited for Space Dreams come true is how Kim Simmons thinks about touching down at Space Camp this summer, and how she landed in a classroom nine years ago. im Simmons always wanted to be a teacher but was persuaded not to. So she majored in business at the University of Virginia, worked for State Farm as a trainer, realized she was already teaching, went back to school for her masters degree (her husband Bob said, 'Sure, go for it.') and became a teacher after all. That was nine years ago. Since then she has taught lucky first graders at Reily Brown E.S. in Caesar Rodney This year she will . teach second grade. Was this the career she was meant to have? Last year she was named Caesar Rodney's District Teacher of the Year. K Chance or destiny? But then again, after an Air Force pilot visited her 7th grade classroom in Virginia, she decided she wanted to be a pilot, a jet pilot no less. Her middle school guidance counselor – this was in the 70's – told her that girls don't do that. Period. So she didn't. Destiny took another turn last spring, when John Sell, Delaware's Teacher of the Year from Sussex Tech High School, couldn't go to the Huntsville, AL Space Camp - an invitation extended to all of the nation's State Teachers of the Year. He asked Delaware's district teachers of the year if anyone wanted to go in his place. Simmons happened to be on her computer at the time. Kim Simmons is now the proud owner of an official NASA space suit. She's figuring out how best to share the classroom resources she now has with colleagues, as well as start some online, statewide network about how teachers can and/or do find success with the NASA activities. (Bob said, "Sure, go for it.") And she got her name in first. Fate? "This was on my bucket list," she says. "Being with this group of teachers who have the same passion for teaching, who are always willing to share, learning from them and with them from 7am to 10pm for one There were lots of teambuilding activities where they worked collaboratively to build an exterior space vehicle while experiencing weightlessness, as well as being trained for and then flying simulated missions. She was a mission specialist The week-long experience of a lifetime at Space Camp wasn't because she was with 50 other teachers who love flying. It was because she was with 50 other teachers who love teaching. week -- it has reenergized me. I have 50 brand new friends," she beams. They met famous astronauts (Bob "Hoot" Gibson and Don Thomas) plus Homer Hickman who wrote Rocket Boys, and Ed Buckbee who wrote the screen play for the movie "Space Cowboys." 24 September 2013 DSEA ACTION! in one and base comander in another. Her team won the futuristic Orion mission where she was base commander. "We had to trust each other, trust that we would all do our jobs, our part. Otherwise, the mission would fail." The parallels to education are obvious: when school staffs work together, trust each other, all doing their jobs well and understanding how they fit, then schools succeed. "When I sometimes feel like the art and the craft of teaching are being subsumed by standards and testing demands, plus more and more non-teaching administrative requirements, this experience reminds me that there are exciting ways to stimulate student curiosity ." Robotics for sequencing and programming, building rockets for mathematics, physics, engineering "I was totally out of my element," she says, "but loved doing it all. Most of us, in fact, weren't math or technology teachers. Our morning reminder to each other was 'Time to get your Geek on!'" By the end of the week, they had received lots of binders full of lesson plans - including a series of lessons, by grade, on Mars and also one on Basic Engineering. There are websites for more information, lessons from the other teachers, including how to use the floor robots called Bee-bots to teach control, directional language and programming to young children. "I'm trying now," she says, "to figure out how to best share this with other teachers in my building, district and even statewide." She plans to talk to DoE about other ideas, such as a blog, a website - somewhere to post the resources, including photos she now has - and continue the sharing. Though there are currently no more crewed American space missions, the Huntsville, AL facility is busy doing space research and also monitoring certain satellites. The Alabama facility, in addition to its space work, continues to offer both educators and students handson experiences into our history with space exploration, tapping into adventure, curiosity, inventions, achievement through teaming...... the skills that use all of our disciplines. You can check it out at www.nasa.gov/education. Simmons holds a bachelors degree in commerce from the University of Virginia, a master's degree in elementary education and a certificate for administration, both from Wilmington University . She and husband Bob (Thank you, Bob!) have three grown children and live in Dover. www.dsea.org

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