Staff Writer
WASHBURN – Filomena “Mena” Irving is still flying high after her summer experience at the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy in Huntsville, Ala.
Irving, a science/health/sexual education teacher for grades 6-8 at Washburn District Elementary School, was one of 264 teachers from 21 countries and 43 U.S. states selected to attend the program at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, which was held from June 22-29.
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FILOMENA IRVING, a science/health/sexual education teacher for grades 6-8 at Washburn District Elementary School, was one of 264 teachers from 21 countries and 43 U.S. states selected to attend the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy program at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, which was held from June 22-29. Here, Irving, shown in the foreground, wraps up a class before having lunch in the cafeteria.
The Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy programs provide teachers with new and innovative techniques to educate their students about science and math.
“It was an incredible opportunity,” said Irving. “Meeting teachers from all over the world and having a chance to share ideas and get back to being a student once again was a re-charging experience. It really brought home the importance of inspiring our next generation to pursue careers in science, technology and engineering. We can’t underestimate the importance of those fields for our children.
“As a teacher, I feel like I’m a catalyst for learning,” she said. “That week at the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy provided me with such an exceptional opportunity to gain new tools and resources to bring science to life in my classroom.”
While at Space Academy, Irving participated in a variety of activities including classroom, laboratory and field training, which were linked to science and math teaching standards. She also had the unique opportunity to participate in astronaut training exercises including a high-performance jet simulation, scenario-based space missions, land and water survival training, and a state-of-the-art flight dynamics program.
“The simulators were fantastic. When I was the mission scientist, I was responsible for carrying out 11 experiments while also keeping the monitors in check,” said Irving. “They had some mock disasters occur on the Space Shuttle while we were doing our mission … one of them was a fire onboard. Instead of swatting the fire with fire retardant material, the captain used her hand to grab it, so she was burned and I had to be the captain and run the mission on top of doing the experiment. It was so much fun; however, the engineering challenges were outstanding.
“There was one where we had to create a heat shield for a rocket upon re-entry. We were given a few simple materials … we had a brass screw that simulated the rocket ship, a hot glue gun, and some copper sheeting, as well as some foil,” she said. “We attached the screw to a wooden dowel and held it near a torch. The object was to get the shield to keep the screw in tact and attached to the dowel for as long as possible. It was amazing to see with just a few small tools how many variations there could be.”
Educators were placed into teams and given specific tasks and challenges to undertake.
“On my 17-member team, ‘Determination,’ we had one lady from the United Kingdom who had the most wonderful accent,” said Irving. “In my team and classroom activities, I had two ladies from India, some gentlemen from Germany, and South Africa.
“I had the opportunity to make a Martian land rover with some teachers from India, and a lot of it was hand signals, drawings, smiling confirmations and eye contact,” she said. “We had many classroom, laboratory and field training activities linked to math and science, and it was very interesting. It was truly an incredible experience both in the realm of science, as well as culturally.”
Irving completed 50 hours of professional development and participated in an intensive educator curriculum focused on space science and exploration in addition to participating in real-life astronaut training.
“I can’t say enough how Honeywell’s commitment to science and math education is unparalleled. Because of their efforts, teachers from all over the world have come together to share experiences and learn activities that we’re now able to implement in our classrooms,” said Irving. “I continue to have contact with many of my teammates online. We communicate and share ideas, and are working on plans to try to do something that will connect our classrooms electronically.”
While at Space Academy, Irving was one of 10 teachers in the United States – one of two from Maine – awarded “Right Stuff” scholarships by Honeywell. Presented to one teacher on each of the teams, the award recognizes outstanding leadership during their time at Space Academy. The teachers will receive one Space Academy student scholarship to give to a student in their class and Honeywell covers the all travel costs for their student to go to the summer program.
“I feel so honored to be recognized for my leadership,” said Irving, “and the fact that I’m going to be able to share my Space Academy experience with one of my students is phenomenal.”
Irving is fostering her students’ love of space and science by having a rocket team compete in the national rocket competition.
“My eighth-grade students are putting together a rocket that we’re going to try to keep aloft for 45 seconds and carry two raw eggs, travel at least 750 feet, and return the eggs safely to the ground unbroken,” she said. “We also have an Invention Convention coming up where my students are going to make adaptations on current inventions and predict where it might be 20 years from now. We’re also going to host a Space Day and invite everyone in the community to come and see what it’s like to be an astronaut. We’re going to do a whole unit on toys in space, hydroponics, and kids will be able to see how it is to do a mission in space.
“They’ll see what it’s like to work with a space suit on … they’re going to have layers and layers of gloves on and try to pick up things,” said Irving. “We’re going to have some fun activities for the whole community to enjoy.”
While Honeywell has awarded one student scholarship for Irving to present, she wants three kids to be able to go to Space Academy.
“We are going to raise half the money for two more students and Honeywell will pay the other half,” she said. “We’re looking to raise $1,000 for each child, or $2,000. I’m also currently working on some grant proposals because I want to take all of my eighth-grade students to the Challenger Learning Center in Bangor, so they all can have an opportunity to go through space and flight simulation.”
To make the selection process for the three Space Academy slots fair, Irving is having her eighth-graders write an essay on why they should be chosen for the Honeywell experience. A panel of high school teachers will judge the essays to determine the three winners.
“The person with the most number of votes will be the child who gets the full scholarship, and the remaining two will be the ones we need to raise funds for,” said Irving.
Though Irving was away from home for an entire week this summer, she has no regrets in going.
“My littlest one wondered, ‘Whose going to feed me?’” said Irving, “but my family was very supportive. My oldest son and daughter helped watch the kids and get them where they needed to be, my mother-in-law helped with meals, and my husband was incredibly supportive. The whole family came together.”
Irving said she would encourage other teachers to apply for the possibility of attending Space Academy.
“It’s a real eye-opener. It shows you the opportunities out there for science and math, and the chance to meet other teachers and share ideas confirms what I already know, ‘Education is the key,’” she said. “Even if you’re from a small community like Washburn, it’s not impossible to dream and make a difference.”
Since the program’s inception in 2004, Honeywell and its employees have sponsored 730 scholarships for teachers from 34 countries and 48 U.S. states to participate in the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy programs.
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SHARING A MOMENT at Space Academy were, Filomena Irving, left, a teacher at Washburn District Elementary School, and Pamela Guytan, a Florida teacher. The two were roommates at the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy, which was held June 22-29 in Huntsville, Ala.
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FILOMENA IRVING, a teacher at Washburn District Elementary School, was one of 264 teachers from 21 countries and 43 U.S. states selected to attend the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy in Huntsville, Ala. this summer. While at Space Academy, Irving, left, met astronaut Story Musgrave, who flew on six Space Shuttle missions.
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POSING IN FRONT of the entrance of the Rocket Museum at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center is Washburn District Elementary School teacher Filomena Irving. Earlier this summer, Irving attended the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy, which provides teachers with new and innovative techniques to educate their students about science and math.
