Curt Kornhaus went to space camp this summer.
But Kornahus isn’t a student; he’s a technology teacher at McPherson Middle School.
Kornhaus was recently able to attend the week-long Honeywell Space Academy in Huntsville, Ala., and add to his teaching toolkit. The Honeywell Corporation held the academy as a way to give teachers first-hand experience that will help them inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, technology, math and science.
“They’re looking for teachers that seem to be fairly innovative and can show evidence that they would use the information in their classrooms,” Kornhaus said.
Teachers learned about the space program and had the chance to apply their knowledge in hands-on ways. Kornhaus said acting as commander of a simulated shuttle mission probably stuck out to him the most.
“It was a two-hour long mission, and it seemed like 30 minutes. That’s how fast it went,” Kornhaus said.
The crew went through prelaunch and launch sequences and also had to guide the shuttle into orbit and eventually land the craft.
“We did it in training, but it was different in the landing because during the training there was no motion to the simulator. Well, there was (motion) just like when you would be flying,” Kornhaus said.
Kornhaus said it is important to connect classroom lessons with real world situations.
“I think good teachers are always looking to become a better teacher. And to me, I’ve always felt that way. I’m always willing to do new things and I can then bring back to the classroom to make that real-world connection with the kids,” Kornhaus said. “To be honest, I don’t believe many people in our society know much about what’s happened in the past with space and I think we need to because that’s our last frontier that we still explore. Also, we need lots of engineers and there aren’t too many students coming out and getting into the math and science areas.”
The camp was a unique experience for Kornhaus.
“(I’ve done) nothing quite like this. I’ve gone to a lot of things where I’ve learned things, but nothing where you’re actively part of a mission and having the equipment they have,” Kornhaus said.
Honeywell paid for the trip through a scholarship and Kornhaus urged teachers to look into similiar events.
“Too many times, I think, people are discouraged when they see the application process,” Kornhaus said.
