This article recently appeared in the Shelburne News about one of The Renaissance School teachers, Eve Dubois, attending Space Camp.  A special thank you to the Shelburne News for sharing their article with us.  Enjoy!

www.shelburnenews.com

 

Shelburne teacher goes to space camp
by Danielle Frawley

Eve Dubois at the Mission Control Station at Space Camp in Huntsville, AL. Photo courtesy of Shelburne News.

Eve Dubois, a teacher at the Renaissance School, which is located at Shelburne Farms, recently returned from the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. Each year the Honeywell company sponsors 264 teachers from around the world to participate in the “Honeywell Educators at Space Academy Program.” Twelve hundred teachers applied for this year’s camps, and Dubois was one of the lucky teachers chosen to participate in the workshops and challenges.

The overall goal of the program is to excite educators about teaching science, math, astronomy, and engineering so that they can go back to the classroom with new ideas to share with the children.

“I have so many ideas for my students,” said Dubois, who teaches sixth and seventh grade at the Renaissance School. “I have materials for projects, and I want to have a science night at the school this year.”

Another exciting part of the weeklong training, explained Dubois, was being a student again, and facing challenges. “It helped give me a better understanding of how my students feel when they undergo challenges.”

For Dubois, these challenges ranged from a complex thermal protection project to overcoming her fear of heights and completing a zip line. With the thermal protection project, Dubois and her team were to protect a certain object from heat. The team who could do this for the longest period of time won. The first round, Dubois’ team got the smallest amount of time: six seconds. The second round, they tried some very new approaches and won the challenge with a time of more than a minute.  

Another segment of the program included two challenging missions. Dubois’ first challenge was as a mission scientist in the mission control simulation. Her second mission was far different, as she was the commander of a space station. Although these situations were simulated, each gave the affect that all of the circumstances were real.

Dubois looks forward to returning to school in the fall to share what she has learned with her class, and when that happens it will then be… mission accomplished.