Challenger Learning Center Gets Students Excited About Science
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At the Challenger Learning Center of Colorado‚ the legacy of the fallen 1986 space shuttle crew lives on in programs that encourage a lifelong passion for science‚ math and technology.
The center‚ one of more than 50 nationwide‚ is located adjacent to Challenger Middle School in Colorado Springs. The facility opened in September 2002 with the goal of stimulating students’ interest in the sciences – and teaching some life skills‚ as well.
Mission accomplished.
“Our mission is middle school students‚ sixth- to eighth-graders‚ because we lose a lot of girls and minorities to math and science and technology careers at that time‚” says Debbie Hertzog‚ the center’s director of marketing and special events. “But we do run programs that span all ages to adults. Since opening‚ we have served school districts from all over the state‚ with approximately 12‚000 students having participated in our onsite space mission simulation program.”
The center is part of the Challenger Learning Center for Space Science Education‚ founded by families of the ill-fated Challenger Space Shuttle crew‚ killed 20 years ago.
The center offers two-and-a-half hour space mission simulations that are part of a four- to six-week unit of study for students. The two simulations offered at the Colorado center are Rendezvous with a Comet and Voyage to Mars. Students focus on planning and launching a mission‚ collecting data‚ and working as a team to make decisions and solve problems.
Other programs include teacher-development workshops; “e-Missions‚” available via computer for students statewide; corporate team-building seminars; and space mission simulations for the public on Saturdays. The center also offers summer enrichment courses and is available for private groups.
“Our public programs are on selected Saturdays during the school year‚ when kids ages 10 and up can bring their parents or other family members‚” Hertzog says. “We call it a cold mission – there is no training‚ they just come in and fly it.
“We were finding that a lot of stu-dents would come to the center with their school group and say ‘My dad or brother or mother would love this‚’ ” she says. “We do that program so they can bring family members back here – and they do.
“The public has definitely been very receptive to the Challenger Center programs‚” Hertzog adds. “That’s the message we’re trying to get out. We are a community resource all the way from pre-kindergarten to adults.
Story by Anne Gillem
Photo by Antony Boshier
