NEAH BAY — Students at Neah Bay schools will have a special visitor for the academic awards assembly Friday: a former U.S. astronaut.
Retired NASA astronaut George “Pinky” Nelson is scheduled to visit the school as part of the district’s efforts to encourage students to go to college, said Ann Renker, principal of Neah Bay High School and Middle School.
“This week is the National Gear-Up Week,” Renker said.
“I invited him here for that.”
Gear-Up is a college-preparation program that encourages low-income and struggling students to think about college as a possibility.
Presentation
Nelson will make a presentation to students about his own economic struggles and experiences as an astronaut before he distributes academic awards for the 2011-2012 school year, she said.
He also will visit science classes after the assembly and will remain in Neah Bay through Saturday as part of a teacher workshop.
Nelson, who graduated from high school in Willmar, Minn., began his career as an astronaut in 1978 after earning a bachelor’s in physics from Harvey Mudd College and both a master’s and a doctorate in astronomy from the University of Washington.
He has spent 17 days, 2 hours and 43 minutes in space during the course of three space shuttle missions, according to his NASA biography.
During the very first space shuttle landing at Edwards Air Force Base, he was the photographer in the primary chase plane.
He then flew in shuttle missions in 1984, 1986 and 1988, including 10 hours of “space walk.”
Science education
He is now researching science education reform and science teacher preparation at Western Washington University.
Neah Bay High School has been working with Nelson for nearly 15 years as part of his continuing efforts to improve science education by using brain studies on how young minds learn and training teachers to make the most of what was learned, Renker said.
Last year, Neah Bay High School students won more than $70,000 in technology for the district, using the district’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics — or STEM — program, which teams high school mentors with middle school students for math and science education.
Nelson is the second retired astronaut to visit Neah Bay in recent years.
In 2008, the schools welcomed U.S. Navy Cmdr. John Herrington, astronaut and Chickasaw tribe member.
Herrington was the first enrolled member of a U.S. tribe to fly in space.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
