THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 30, 1995 TAG: 9503300651
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KENNAN NEWBOLD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
When astronaut Wendy Lawrence arrived home in Houston after spending 16 1/2 days on the space shuttle Endeavour, she had a little surprise waiting for her, thanks to a kindergarten class at First Presbyterian Preschool in Norfolk.
For the past month, Susie Prevette and her class have made it their mission to ``adopt'' Wendy Lawrence, sending her a poem, a beautifully illustrated book, and most recently, a ``Welcome Home'' banner to greet her. They have incorporated Lawrence's adventure into their learning, following the shuttle's daily activity by gathering information off the Internet for their own NASA News.
``I don't normally teach such abstract ideas to children this young,'' Prevette said, ``but doing this has made it real for them. There's an old Chinese proverb that goes, `I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.' ''
These children have been doing a lot.
The hallway outside their classroom is decorated with copies of letters they've written to her, a colorful ``We've Adopted an Astronaut'' bulletin board full of information on Wendy Lawrence and NASA, and a time line of her mission. ``Meet an Astronaut'' poster hangs on the door of the classroom, and inside there are miniature models of the space shuttle made from stripped paper towel rolls. An actual-size model of the Endeavour is sketched in colored chalk on the preschool's parking lot.
As part of what Prevette described as ``active learning,'' the children have compiled a chart, titled ``Our Favorites,'' that posts the results of a taste test they conducted between Earth ice cream and french fries and the freeze-dried varieties eaten in space. Space fries did not go over as well with the children as the ice cream.
In a more recent project, Prevette's class put together a question book for Lawrence about life in space, with such inquiries as:
Do your drawers float out of their sockets?
How do you get air in your helmet?
How do you go to the bathroom?
According to Prevette, the idea to include Lawrence in her normal science routine this year has been very successful and something she hopes to include in the future.
``We'll follow Wendy for as long as she's in the (space) program,'' Prevette said.
Prevette met Lawrence almost 20 years ago when she and her family were living in Annapolis. When she found out from Lawrence's mother toward the end of February that Lawrence was going up with the Endeavour, she seized the opportunity to make it a learning experience for her class.
``A chance like this comes once in a lifetime,'' Prevette said.
With only a few days before the Endeavour was scheduled to launch, Prevette faxed Lawrence the poem she had written from her class and then began work on the book, illustrated by the children, which was delivered to Lawrence by her mother right before she left.
Although she hasn't been communicating with Lawrence directly, Prevette has been corresponding with Lawrence's mother, her secretary and NASA employees who have been very helpful in supplying her with information about the mission. Prevette also has gathered a lot of information, including videos about living in space, from the Teacher Resource Center in the Air and Space Center in Hampton.
Prevette's enthusiasm about their project has rubbed off on her students, who exhibit as much interest in Lawrence's adventure as she does.
``I know an astronaut named Wendy,'' 5-year-old Phoebe Boutwell says with pride as she points to a picture of Wendy Lawrence in a newspaper article posted on the bulletin board outside their classroom.
Phoebe is just one example of how influential the mission and Prevette's teaching have been on the class. In a letter to Lawrence, Phoebe wanted to know if children were allowed to go up in the shuttle, and then she volunteered. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by BILL TIERNAN
Brittany Lamb, 6, shows the letter and picture she did for Wendy
Lawrence, an astronaut who flew aboard the space shuttle Endeavour.
Graphic
THE CHILDREN'S POEM
This is the poem that was written for astronaut Wendy Lawrence:
``Wendy Lawrence - Our Astronaut''
Although we've never seen your face, We wish you much good luck
in space. We hope that you have lots of fun - REMEMBER! Don't get
too close to the sun! Please don't stay near the moon - We're
waiting for you to come back soon!
Love,
Mrs. Prevette's kindergarten class
by CNB