Trevor-Wilmot science teacher completes mission
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
Ashley Adams had an invigorating experience as one of the newest members of the National Aeronautic Space Administration’s Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors Program.
Adams, a middle school science teacher at Trevor-Wilmot Consolidated School, was just one of nearly two-dozen national educators to receive the professional development opportunity.
The opportunity, designed to convey the value of scientific research and inspire students, included a flight on a modified Boeing jetliner equipped with a flying telescope known as the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).
“The goal for SOFIA is that you bring it back into our classrooms,” said Adams, who teamed up with former colleague Geoff Holt of the Madison Metropolitan School District, where she previously taught.
This week alone, Adams has presented before a first-grade class at her school, in addition to a Thursday reception at Wilmot Union High School.
As she prepared for the mission, which was in Southern California, Adams completed a graduate astronomy course before she observed NASA scientists gather data on SOFIA.
The experience, she said, both humbled and excited her.
“The amount of information, and the people that I met were so intelligent first off, just to be around that knowledge and passion for a topic is invigorating,” Adams said. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity that I got to be a part of. It’s amazing, it’s humbling, really humbling.”
Adams’ invigorating expedition gave her data that extends beyond astronomy, noting some of the information is applicable to other units within the school’s science curriculum, including biology and physics.
“What I didn’t realize is all of the different connections to all 10 of my units,” she said, noting one study involving Mars is easily incorporated into her biology unit.
“I am going to be able to put so many more connections than I ever dreamed of,” Adams added. “Which is even more exciting for me, and then on top of it, thermal energy transfer is a huge standard for me within one of my physics units.”
During some segments of Adams’ flight, she sat in the cockpit, where she recalled hovering above the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and watching the sun setting.
“That is pretty incredible,” she said. “The sheer experience of that, was awesome, it was really memorable.”
As Adams carries the memories with her, she feels inspired to know area students could absorb the information she obtained in the future.
“It is just getting out the word of what NASA is doing, that’s my job,” she said. “That’s pretty cool knowing this information will some day be known to other people.”
Next for Adams is a presentation at a Genoa City grade school.
The full story will appear in the Feb. 10 edition of the Westosha Report.