Space-Buff Students Go Where None Have Gone Before - And Start Physics Club

NASA’s Brian Hawkins supplied “a great day for education” at West Valley High School this week.

Hawkins is an education specialist who loosed a stream of hands-on demonstrations to unlock the complexities of space technology. He captured young imaginations with the latest images of Mars, the asteroid Eros and other space wonders.

“A lot of you are convinced that all the discoveries have been made,” Hawkins told students filling the high school auditorium. “Well, they’re not.”

His talk ranged from the international space station now under construction, to the threedimensional global mapping project under way with the current Endeavor shuttle mission.

In an afternoon session for physics students, Hawkins emphasized manned Mars exploration, something he said should happen in 15 years.

Need a little comic relief? He had plenty.

Hawkins showed a special videotape of an early shuttle flight made for crew members only. It included the “ultimate bad hair day” as one astronaut worked the treadmill, adventures eating Jell-O in space, and an astronaut who chased floating M&Ms. “Remember Newton’s second law of motion, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” said Hawkins, as the M&Ms went astray.

Hawkins coaxed junior Shauna Honcoop to don a special space sleeping bag, complete with velcro strap to keep her head on the pillow.

Seventh-grader Tyler Spilker got to go up front to help with a bike wheel demo that handily illustrated how gyroscopes help control the direction of the Hubble telescope.

Wait a minute - a seventh-grader? How’d he get out of school on a Thursday?

“My cousin is president of the physics club,” he explained.

But if NASA’s Hawkins brought the goods, it was indeed students in the high school’s physics club who provided the enthusiasm.

Jennifer Miner is president of the club. She intends to be a child psychologist, “but after today…” she said. “This is really fascinating. I don’t know that I could live on Mars for a year, but to design a spacecraft - that would be cool.”

Miner helped form the club with physics teacher Suzann Girtz earlier this year.

It’s hard to say just how unusual high school physics clubs are, but neither Girtz nor Hawkins had ever heard of another one. It’s possible only because of the enthusiasm of her students, Girtz emphasized. The club is a good way to build further interest in physics. Members are encouraged to enter competitions, and they’re working toward a set of experiments to be performed on Silverwood’s rollercoasters later this spring.

Girtz says she hopes plenty of math-motivated students come her way next year, so they can keep the club going. For the career minded, both the NASA day and the physics club are good things.

“I’m just trying to get as involved as I can,” said junior Cole Rottweiler, who’s interested in a physics career. “Physics is a big field.”

These were just the kids Hawkins was trying to reach. He never missed a chance to tell the students that they are needed for NASA’s future.

He reminded them of the American itch to always climb the next mountain. Then, referring to NASA’s work, he said, “That’s the next hill, right there, and we need you to help us climb it.”