Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 18, 1992 TAG: 9203180153
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By NEAL THOMPSON EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Now, Roanoke's Addison Aerospace Magnet Middle School is boldly going where no other school in Virginia - and possibly the country - has gone. Pupils there use a planetarium, mock space station and mission control center, computerized robotic arms and small rockets to learn their science, math and geology.
And it's a sure sign that education has entered a new frontier when schools start replacing textbooks with space shuttles.
Yes, Roanoke has a simulated space shuttle. It's been dubbed "Endeavor," which is the name of NASA's newest space shuttle.
It was unveiled Tuesday as Addison showed off its half-million dollar face lift - a face lift that turned it from an ordinary middle school into a scene from "Star Trek."
A dedication ceremony for Roanoke's newest magnet school is scheduled for 6 p.m. tonight.
Federal grants paid to turn Addison into a high tech, computer-stocked "aerospace" school with limited textbook use and a lot of computer use. The heart of the school is its old field house, which was renovated into the Aerospace Center - home to the planetarium, mission control center, space station and space shuttle. The space shuttle was designed locally by Smithey & Boynton architects and built in Lynchburg.
Roanoke officials believe the center may be the only one of its kind in the nation.
Tuesday, eighth-grade classmates Billie "B.J." Jones and Andre Rhodes sat as pilot and copilot in the space shuttle. Through headsets, they talked to other classmates seated in the nearby mission control center.
With computers in front of them, they can study weather and principles of flight. With the inflatable planetarium, they study astronomy. And in the space station, they conduct simulated in-space experiments with robotic arms to study geology and meteorology. It's more fun learning this way than listening to a teacher lecture for an hour, Jones said.
"After we learn it in classes, we come in here and experience what we learned," Jones said.
Soon, pupils will stay overnight in the space shuttle for a simulated one- or two-day flight. They will sleep in the shuttle's narrow bunks and eat microwaved food.
"We gotta eat that space food," Rhodes said, which means all mushed up and through a straw, just like the astronauts.
But it's better than the way classes used to be, he said.
Principal Beverly Burks has a prediction for his restocked school: "I really believe that with what we're doing here today, that Roanoke will have its first astronaut."
Burks expects, however, that not everyone will be as excited about his school.
Two common complaints of Roanoke's magnet schools are that these fancy programs cost too much and overshadow the basics of education.
Burks calls both complaints misconceptions.
First: the federal grant funding has been like a bonus to the school. Without it, Addison wouldn't have been able to afford any of the high-tech equipment.
That money also will help keep Addison from becoming an all-black school. "We were becoming majority black. We had to do something," Burks said.
White pupils are accepted at Addison from surrounding communities and counties to help balance the school's racial makeup.
Second: the basics of education are enhanced, not overlooked, Burks said.
"We do address basic skills," he said. "A lot of people think that when we talk about aerospace, all we're doing here is flying airplanes."
Aerospace is merely the method for teaching the basics. It was incorporated into the curriculum and is used to keep kids interested and make classes relevant.
"They are active participants in the lessons. . . . And if you have excitement, you're going to have learning going on."
Burks said teachers, pupils and parents seem to be excited about the new program.
Parent John Kazos said it has made a big impression on his eighth-grade son, John.
Kids have always had a fascination with space and astronauts. But the aerospace program gives his son a firsthand look at that industry and has already got him thinking about a career in aerospace, Kazos said.
"It's really given him a good sense of awareness on what's out there. . . . It's been real positive for his total attitude."
In fact, Kazos said his son recently entered his first science fair with a project on solar energy.
He placed first.
by CNB