It’s no secret that America is going to need many more young people to pursue science and technology professions in the future. As we celebrate National Lab Day on May 12, we have an opportunity for people currently in these careers to work with students and teachers and get them excited about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. But National Lab Day is more than just one single day in the year. It’s really a collaborative movement to support people who work in our classrooms to inspire tomorrow’s innovators.
I have a particular interest in activities like this. I was born and raised in Columbia, SC – the son of two public school teachers who, despite very long hours and modest wages, loved each and every day of their work. They made the hard choice to remain in public education because they knew it was their opportunity to inspire thousands of students and to give them the foundation they would need to take their places in national, state, and local leadership. My parents’ dedication instilled in me a deep and personal passion for education.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to follow in my parents’ footsteps for a day and work with Lisa Hedgepeth’s fifth grade students at Langdon Education Campus, a school located in Washington, DC. These students have been studying the solar system, and I had the opportunity to share with them my experience of living and working in space as a NASA astronaut before I became the NASA Administrator. We spent time discussing Newton’s Laws of Motion with me giving them examples of ways in which we are able to demonstrate those laws real-time while in the weightless environment of space. We had an energetic discussion on how these laws are present in everyday life.
Fonte: White House