HARRIS COUNTY, Ga. (WRBL) — Local elementary schoolers were over the moon Jan. 31. Why? Park Elementary has just become one of a select few schools across the country to plant an Artemis Mission Moon Tree.
Elementary school teacher Heather Westad says it was the COVID-19 pandemic and stroke of luck which first got her classes involved in NASA projects.
“I was scrolling Facebook one day and there was a random NASA news story about [how] the Mars Perseverance rover was getting ready to land on Mars,” Westad, a first grade teacher at Park Elementary, said. “I thought, you know what? We're stuck in this classroom all day. We can't go anywhere, can't really interact with other classrooms. This would be a neat little story to learn about together.”
Things went from there, with Westad helping her students get set up with NASA activity kits and coordinating for the class to watch the landing virtually. She’s been involving her students with NASA projects ever since, so when the opportunity to apply to receive an Artemis Mission Moon Tree came, it was only natural for Westad to submit Park Elementary.
The school is now one of 50 nationwide which has been given a Moon Tree. Westad’s students have been waiting for planting day all school year, carefully taking care of the Loblolly Pine they’ve lovingly named “Luna.”
“She’s very special,” said Sterling Gonis, a first grader in Westad’s class.
“Because she came from space,” added Collins Moye, another first grader in the class.
As a seed, Luna travelled nearly 270,000 miles in space aboard the Artemis I Mission. She returned to Earth and spent some time being cultivated by the USDA Forest Service, before arriving at Park Elementary.
Westad said having the tree at the school provides students with a tangible connection to NASA.
“To be able to get this tree and the kids can see all these things and they have and be a part of it so it’s not, you know, it's not just an astronaut somewhere in these big grand schemes and dreams and things like that,” Westad said. “This is right here at Park Elementary.”
Gonis, Moye and their classmates were all wearing NASA stickers on their shirts to show adults at the tree planting ceremony that they could answer Luna-related questions, including about how they worked together to help Luna get rid of a bug problem earlier in the year.
Interested in checking out Park Elementary’s moon tree? Luna will be standing right outside Park Elementary for the foreseeable future. The school plans to put a fence around Luna to keep her safe, but they’re looking forward to seeing her grow just as tall as the Loblolly Pines across the street.
0 Comments