St. John Vianney Student Interest Launched By Official From Nasa

Eighth-grader Travis Sellers looked great in the astronaut suit.

If you didn’t look clear down to his ankles, that is.

This space suit from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was clearly made for exceptionally short astronauts.

School-age astronauts.

At St. John Vianney School last week, NASA’s John Lowerison spoke to a young audience that might have included tomorrow’s real astronauts.

Or rocket designers.

“There is going to be a first person to walk on the planet Mars. It could be the person is sitting right here in this audience today,” Lowerison said, looking across the gymnasium.

The space suit that Sellers wore differed from the real thing. Working space suits must seal air in for the astronauts to breathe. And they’re plumbed for drinking water. Lowerison described how astronauts can drink from a handy tube.

“Then they work a little. Drink a little. Work a little. Drink. Work. Drink some more,” he said.

“Then they need to do something else, right?” The students were all with him.

“So here’s the famous astronaut diaper!” With a flourish, Lowerison held up the pale green disposable diaper.

“Ewww!” The students were non-plussed.

Lowerison’s presentation combined simple physics and fun.

“All rockets use one law of physics. All actions have an equal and opposite reaction,” he said.

Using a three-stage model of the Saturn 5 rocket, Lowerison showed how inefficient it was to send up a massive rocket for each space flight, only to have a tiny cone splash down in an ocean landing.

“Everytime they sent someone to the moon, that” - he held up the little capsule - “is all that came back.”

He also walked his audience through the intricacies of sleeping in space, suiting up one student in a NASA-style sleeping bag, in which astronauts can strap themselves down to a wall so they won’t float as they sleep. Velcro allows astronauts to strap their pillows to their forehead, so the pillow doesn’t float away, he explained. “Good stuff, Velcro,” Lowerison said.

Lowerison has done educational work for NASA for 9-1/2 years, he said.

One frustration for him is that he doesn’t ever work with the same students for long. He is typically at a school for a single day.

How much do students actually learn from his presentation?

“That’s a good question,” Lowerison said. “I know they enjoy it. At the least, they are inspired.”

At the close of his talk to the fourth- through eight-graders, Lowerison reminded the students that if they aspire to a career in aeronautics, they have much to learn.

“Your job today is to learn things. I hope you study hard,” he said.

WEA honors CV student

Bowdish Junior High eighth-grader Sarah Wright was honored this week for writing an essay on “A Teacher to Remember.”

Wright chose her sixth-grade teacher, Donna Perno from University Elementary School.

To commemorate National Teacher Day, the Washington Education Association named three winners in its statewide contest, one from Eastern Washington and two from the West Side.

Here is an excerpt from Wright’s essay: “My favorite teacher would have to be my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Perno. She is my favorite teacher because she didn’t make everything easy, like other teachers. Mrs. Perno didn’t give you a grade, you had to earn it.

“Another reason I like her class so much is because we were all friends. I remember one time we had to do a two-minute speech about a topic Mrs. Perno chose. One boy in the class named Ryan, who had Down’s syndrome, spoke about ice cream. Everyone in the class thought he would be too shy to get up and speak. Ryan stood up and gave a humorous speech and at the end everybody clapped for him.”

High 5 Conference

Students from 15 junior highs and middle schools around Spokane County are gathered in the Valley today learning ways to stay away from drugs.

More than 200 students are expected at the annual High 5 Conference at the Spokane Valley United Methodist Church.

Speakers were to include Tom Flick, former University of Washington and San Diego Chargers quarterback; Linda Thompson, director of the Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council and Victim’s Panel; Kara Woods, counselor from East Valley High School; Detective Craig Brenden of the Spokane Police Department; and Steve Rademaker, lab manager of Empire Health Services.

WV students win SADD grant

Six West Valley High School students won $600 at a state safety conference for their chapter of Students Against Drugs and Drinking/Stop Auto Fatalaties Through Youth Efforts. Jay Castro, Autumn Dashiell, Naomi Derrick, Sarah Brustkern, Trisha Petersen and Meghan Syron won two $300 mini-grants for their talent show performance and a poster.

Members of West Valley’s SADD chapter will soon decide how to spend the money.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: If you have news about an interesting program or activity at a Valley school or about the achievements of Valley students, teachers or school staff, please let us know at the Valley Voice, 13208 E. Sprague, Spokane, WA 99216. Call: 927-2166. Fax: 927-2175.