St. Joseph School teacher Bruce Becker is now the building’s rocket man.
Becker, 41, joined a select group of international middle-school teachers at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., in June to learn how to include space exploration and rocket science studies into his school’s curriculum.
The Honeywell Educators at Space Academy Program, sponsored by the Honeywell Corporation, provides 40 hours of intensive classroom, laboratory and training time focusing on rocket science, space science and space exploration. The program is designed to help middle-school teachers inspire the next generation to pursue careers in math, science, technology and engineering.
“I greatly encourage other archdiocesan teachers to apply for this program,” said Becker, who has taught algebra at St. Joseph in West St. Paul for 17 years.
To qualify, he wrote a 500-word essay on how to encourage more young people to enter the fields of math and science. He was selected for the program from among more than 500 applicants.
Becker participated in astronaut-style training and simulation programs to learn activities designed to promote life-long learning in a classroom setting.
“I have several materials that I have brought back to use whole cloth in my algebra classes. I also created curriculum on my own incorporating what I have learned at the academy,” Becker said.
Academy participants also may have an opportunity to participate in future NASA astronaut training exercises including high-performance jet simulation, scenario-based space missions, and land and water survival training, Becker said.
Becker uses his academy-issued space flight suit, a slide show and other ideas to incorporate space science and rocket study concepts into his seventh- and eighth-grade algebra classes.
He has donned his space flight suit while conducting PowerPoint presentation for faculty and students.
“I have shared the space academy materials with my colleagues to help them develop curriculum for their classes,” he said.
For example, Becker plans to lead his students in studies on how to construct rockets as well as lead discussions on what creates rocket thrusts.
While at the space academy, Becker joined teachers from 32 U.S. states and 17 foreign countries.
“There were nine flight teams. Each flight team was a mixture of American teachers and those from foreign countries. My team was composed of teachers from the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic and China,” Becker said.
“Our flight team was named Team Unity. Our strength and our name were one in the same,” Becker said. “I am developing ongoing friendships with my flight team members. We continue to keep in contact through e-mail.”
A highlight of his space academy training, Becker said, was a seminar with NASA astronaut Story Musgrave, who shared what it was like to fly aboard U.S. space shuttles Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery and Endeavour. Musgrave is the only NASA astronaut to have flown on all five space shuttles.
“Unlike Musgrave, I trained for a simulated space mission at the academy,” Becker quipped. “I actually got to do a simulated space walk and helped to construct a simulated piece to be added on to the U.S. Space Station.”
Honeywell will provide 148 scholarships for science and math teachers in grades six to eight to attend the next training program June 16 to 23, 2006. Each scholarship covers tuition, airfare, meals, accommodations and program materials.
Middle-school teachers interested in applying for the program can log on to the Honeywell Web site at www.Honeywell.com, type “Hometown Solutions” in the search engine and then click on the link for “Honeywell Educators at Space Academy.”
Deadline for applications is Feb. 1. Scholarship recipients will be notified by e-mail or by phone no later than April 14.