August 21, 2015
Last week I had the honor of attending the annual conference of the national Challenger Center organization. The event, which was held in San Antonio, was attended by Challenger Learning Centers from all over the world. The furthest attendees to travel to the conference were our friends from the Challenger Learning Center at SongAm Space Center in South Korea. We got to see the beautiful new Scobee Education Center that displayed several tributes to Dick and June Scobee.
Among the conference highlights was the opportunity to be a part of a live downlink with the International Space Station. Captain Mark Kelly, retired NASA astronaut was with us live at the conference as we connected to his twin, Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren, who are part of the crew that is currently on board the International Space Station. Identical twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly are part of a year-long study that will help scientists better understand the effects of long-term spaceflight. Check out more information about this study here.
We were also honored with receiving an award for the “Most Public Participants” flown within our category of Challenger Learning Centers. Even more exciting was the opportunity to surprise two of the Challenger Learning Center staff from our Center the “Shining Star” award via Skype! Both Heidi Lung and Robert Powell were awarded this distinction for their boundless energy and creativity in developing and leading many of the innovative programs we offer here at the Center. Congratulations, Heidi and Robert!!
You can check out some of the pictures from the conference on our Facebook page here.