Menifee teacher to chase childhood dreams in NASA program – Press-Enterprise
By Catherine Makino
Correspondent
When he got the news, Joe Jennings was so excited that he jumped up and hit his head on the ceiling.
He was selected by the SETI Institute as one of 28 teachers from around the country to be part of the 2020 NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program. This means that he is scheduled to fly with NASA on research flights on the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy, known as SOFIA.
For Jennings, a 56 year-old teacher at Paloma Valley High School in Menifee, this is a childhood dream come true.
“When I was a kid, men were walking on the moon … and I wanted to be one of those guys. This dream’s fizzledout, but I have remained a NASA fan all the same,” he said, adding, “I will have the experience of a lifetime.”
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As a teacher, Jennings welcomes the chance to build stronger relationships with students by sharing this experience with them.
“I have good students in my classes, and they will enjoy knowing that one of their teachers was selected to fly on these missions,” he said.
Yamilla Pullo, an 11th-grader who takes Jennings’ classes, is thrilled by the news.
“Now he’ll open the world up to us about what’s going on since he’ll have an inside view of astronomy and what’s going on in the sky,” she said.
His principal, Jennifer Thomasian, also sees this as an amazing opportunity, not only for Jennings but also for Paloma Valley, which is part of the Perris Union High School District.
Thomasian said Jennings saw the need five years ago for students to have more STEM courses. Now students learn in these science, technology, engineering and math classes through hands-on projects, including building and launching rockets, programming robotic rovers and creating telescopes, she said.
“We are very proud of Joe and the leadership he has shown in developing innovative curriculum for students,” Thomasian said. “This selection validates his work and will help bring real-life learning to our students.”
NASA’s program for high school science teachers aims to improve science teaching and inspire student learning. The training schedule includes a week-long immersion experience at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, before research flights on SOFIA.
“I hope to learn a great deal about infrared astronomy,” Jennings said. “I also hope that in some small way that I can actually contribute to the science in the mission by noticing something that would have otherwise been missed if I had not been there … that would be really cool.”
Jennings’ training has already started, with five hours of online meetings, to be followed by an astronomy class.
He will receive additional training in astrophysics, planetary science and pedagogy. After his SOFIA missions, planned for May, Jennings will be taught a two-week physical science curriculum module created by the SETI Institute on the electromagnetic spectrum, using SOFIA-sourced science examples as illustrations.
“These teachers will use their professional development and SOFIA experiences to convey real-world content to their students that illuminates the value of scientific research and the variety of STEM career paths available to them,” said Dana Backman, the Ambassadors program lead.
He added that all teachers agreed one of the most impressive aspects of the experience was how everyone — the approximately 20 engineers, technicians, astronomers, and scientists onboard SOFIA — work as a team.
“They come from all over the world, speaking different languages, but working effectively together to solve problems,” Backman said.
ABOUT SOFIA
Name: Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy
What: It is a Boeing 747SP aircraft modified to carry a 100-inch reflecting telescope.
Details: By flying at a height of 41,000 feet, scientists can detect much more infrared radiation from objects inside and outside the solar system than on the ground, where water vapor in the atmosphere blocks most infrared rays.
