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Student Questions Selected for Space Station Contact(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) GREENSBORO, N.C., April 19 -- Guilford County Schools issued the following news: In just a couple of weeks, GCS students will get the rare opportunity to talk directly with an astronaut on the International Space Station using amateur radio (http://www.gcsnc.com/education/components/scrapbook/default.php sectiondetailid=365713) . The International Space Station is scheduled to orbit directly over Guilford County the week of April 29-May 3, and GCS has been selected by NASA to make a live contact with crew members. The contact will take place at McNair Elementary, which is named for former astronaut Ronald E. McNair, who was a crew member on Space Shuttle Challenger. More than 750 students will experience the contact live at McNair, and all students, teachers and community members are invited to tune into the event live on GCSTV or through webcast on the day of the event. The official date and time are still TBA, and will be released by NASA soon. The 10-minute, live question-and-answer session will allow students to speak directly with the astronauts as the space station orbits 250 miles above Guilford County. Twenty students from schools across the district have been selected to ask questions during the event. Their questions were selected from more than 2,720 originally suggested by students at the school level and 64 final questions that were submitted by 35 schools. The students selected to ask their questions during the contact are as follows: . Gavin Grime, kindergarten, Joyner Elementary . Nasir Newkirk, kindergarten, McNair Elementary . Christopher Ross, first grade, McNair Elementary . Ashley Wood, second grade, Jones Elementary . Aaron Soto, second grade, McNair Elementary . Jordan Darwish, second grade, McNair Elementary . Jaylin Woods, third grade, McNair Elementary . Jakobi Lovings, third grade, McNair Elementary . Jayla Martin, fourth grade, Bluford STEM Academy . Rachel Olla, fourth grade, McNair Elementary . Natalie Brown, fifth grade, Monticello-Brown Summit Elementary . Jordan Neal, fifth grade, Gibsonville Elementary . Josue Carlin, fifth grade, McNair Elementary . Samantha Williams, fifth grade, Claxton Elementary . Kevin Toledo-Perez, fifth grade, McNair Elementary . Katie Clark, Mikala Lovell and Wyatt Slaughter, sixth grade, Mendenhall Middle . Erick Trujilla, eighth grade, Southern Middle . Antaysha Meadows, 10th grade, Page High . Taylor Harris, 12th grade, Twilight High School Teachers from these schools and others that plan to watch the event live in their classrooms on GCSTV or webcast are invited to prepare their students by using the educational plan (http://schoolcenter.gcsnc.com/education/components/docmgr/download.php sectiondetailid=265042&fileitem=140438&catfilter=ALL) of pre-event and post-event activities to introduce the concepts of space, astronomy, NASA and the International Space Station leading up to the event. A team of educators and staff members from a variety of schools and offices in GCS, along with community members from Greensboro Amateur Radio Association (http://www.w4gso.org/) (GARA), have been planning for the contact since June 2012. Members of GARA are providing expertise in setting up the radio connection. Additionally, RF Micro Devices (http://www.rfmd.com/), a local corporation that specializes in the design and manufacture of radio frequency (RF) solutions for mobile devices and communication equipment, is generously donating the amateur radio equipment, and loaning GCS a sophisticated antenna that will be used to make a direct connection with the International Space Station. The direct connection will allow students to talk to the astronauts at the time when the space station passes directly over the school. This event is coordinated through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-on-the-international-space-station) (ARISS) program, a cooperative venture of NASA, the American Radio Relay League (http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-on-the-international-space-station), the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/AboutAmsat/) and other international space agencies that schedule radio contacts between astronauts and schools. The ARISS radio contact is one in a series of educational activities organized by Teaching From Space (http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/teachingfromspace/home/index.html), a NASA Education office dedicated to improving teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics using the unique environment of human spaceflight. For more information, visit www.gcsnc.com/ariss. TNS rk-130420-4308072 StaffFurigay (c) 2013 Targeted News Service |