Recently some big news has been going around Galway about two very special teachers we are proud to call our own. Paul Levin and Edie Frisbie have recently been selected to attend as NASA Airborne astronomy ambassadors. They will be flying to Palmdale, California between the end of August 2016 and mid-January 2017. This is due to the fact that both teachers have to complete a 3 credit graduate level course just to attend the trip!

During their time in California both teachers will have the opportunity to fly twice overnight to observe scientists conducting research and will be able to visit many points of interest in the area including NASA’s Flight Armstrong Research Center and NASA’s Ames Research Center.

This is a highly selective program that both teachers were selected for and both Mr. Levin and Ms. Frisbie are extremely excited to attend this trip. Not only do the teachers plan to learn a lot themselves, but they plan to bring this information into the classroom with them.

“The opportunity to be a NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassador is truly a once in a lifetime experience. Having a first hand account, hands-on experience to share with my students beats having a book any day! To be able to say, ‘When I was on the largest airborne observatory in the world I saw…’ is an incredibly unique experience that I will be able to bring back into my classroom,” says Frisbie.

Levin believes that getting to see other scientists’ research will improve his skills even more, and that he will then be able to transfer this knowledge to  his own students. Both Levin and Frisbie plan on sharing their information not only with their students, but with other districts, colleges, and anyone else who is interested in astronomy.

“I hope it shows students that you need to be lifelong learners.  I love learning new things and even after 20 years of teaching, it is still thrilling to experience new things and this opportunity with NASA hopefully shows all students that learning can be fun,” says Levin.

Both teachers hope to inspire kids in a life-long love of learning and science. The more real life science in our lives the better, and both of these Galway science teachers can share that with us. Galway is truly privileged to have teachers like these who devote their lives to the love of learning and sharing their wonderful amounts of knowledge with others.