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Back to School - Schedule your Missions!
If you are on the Kenai Peninsula, from the Valley, or in a remote location, check out how you can use Challenger Learning Center of Alaska's inspiring STEM programs in your class this year! We serve ALL of Alaska!
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Simulated Missions & Workshops
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We are excited to see you and your classes in the 2022-23 School year! Programs are scheduled around your preferred day and time as much as possible, so make sure to get on our calendar as soon as possible. Your students are guaranteed to love our Mission to Mars, Earth Odessy Mission, and Lunar Quest Mission, and this year you can expect to see some exciting new changes. STEM Workshops are also a great addition to a Challenger visit. Your students experience such intriguing and fun hands-on experiments led by our Science Specialists that they don't realize they are learning!
KPBSD 5TH & 6TH GRADERS, REMEMBER TO BOOK YOUR CLASS'S Marathon Petroleum SIMULATED MISSION BEFORE MARCH!
Marathon is sponsoring 25 Simulated Missions for 5th and 6th graders in the Kenai Peninsula School District to encourage programs that provide relevant real-life skills, empowering students to work through hands-on challenges and solve problems using STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines. All applications will be considered on a first come/first served basis and handled in the order received. Fill out the application in the link below and email to our admin at cooper.kelley@akchallenger.org
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Near or Far
Virtual is still a great option to experience Challenger!
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CLCA has enriching virtual programs that still incorporate our hands-on practices and interactive learning. Ask about our Virtual STEM Workshops, Virtual Missions or Classroom Adventures.
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Challenger is your STEM Resource
We are here to support you! Need more options, or different topics, want us to come to you? Contact us to make a custom program!
rebecca.absher@akchallenger.org
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Becky Absher, Director of Educational Operations
rebecca.absher@akchallenger.org
Becky has a unique background, with 27 years of experience teaching sixth through twelfth grade in Virginia. For nineteen of those years, Becky was the sole science teacher at Mount Rogers Combined School, located at the highest point in the Mountains of Virginia! Astronomy is her favorite subject to teach because she gets to share the wonders of some of the grandest and most beautiful phenomena in the Universe. Becky moved to Alaska in July of 2019, where she has been able to enjoy some of her favorite hobbies, hiking and canoeing with her family, and taking pictures of wildlife and flowers on her adventures. When Becky has downtime, her family can attest that her secret talent is knitting hats with a loom. Everyone in her family has a hat she made specifically for each of them! Becky is excited to be a part of a team of educators that carry on the legacy of Challenger’s mission, teaching, and inspiring students of all ages. She is especially looking forward to learning how to lead mission simulations. Becky says, “This is my dream job, teaching informal science activities to students who are as enthusiastic about learning science as I am about teaching it.”
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Kathy Whittington, Science Specialist
Kathy joined our center as a Flight Director in the Summer of 2022 with a diverse and interesting background. She started her career as an electrical engineer at Hughes Aircraft Co in CA and then switched over to become a pilot. For several years Kathy flew medevac missions all over Alaska in high-performance (fast!) airplanes. As early as Kathy can remember, she’s wanted to live in Alaska as a result of a childhood memory. Growing up, her Grandparents always shared their story of driving up the Alaskan Highway in 1970, inspiring Kathy to finally make the move herself in 1996. From 2007 to 2011, Kathy returned to utilizing her electrical engineer degree at NASA/JPL. Interesting as well, Kathy had the opportunity to write Flight Manuals and checklists for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) pilots for a company that builds the Army’s Predator, Gray Eagle, and Avenger Drones. Personally, Kathy loves dogs and spends her time training service dogs for others. Challenger itself has also been an inspiration to Kathy within America’s history of space flight and space exploration.
Kathy explains, “The Space Shuttle was a brilliant, historic program. I was a teenager when the Challenger blew up. I was already a physicist & a fan of Richard Feynman. At the time, they credited Feynman with discovering what happened. Later I learned that management and engineers at Thiokol were very familiar with low-temperature issues with the rubber O-ring seals. As a pilot, I'm very surprised that they decided to launch when it was so cold, but I also understand everyone's desire to stay on schedule, especially with the Shuttle Program. The Challenger legacy is very important to me. I love learning about the 7 people we lost that day. (Dick Scobee - Commander, Mike Smith - Pilot, Elison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, and Judith Resnick - Mission Specialists, Greg Jarvis - Payload Specialist (Hughes Aircraft Satellites, which my Dad & I both worked on), and Christa McCullough - Teacher) The tragic loss is only a bit of the story. The rest is all so good!”
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Cooper Kelley, Administrative Assistant
cooper.kelley@akchallenger.org
Cooper was born and raised in Cambridge, MA. He recently graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in sociology, after which he immediately jumped into the car with his girlfriend and drove all the way from Boston to Kenai. While in college, he worked in the theater department scene shop, where he fell in love with woodworking and carpentry. Now in his free time, he enjoys making small tables and boxes to give to friends and family. He joined the CLCA team in June of 2022, and has really enjoyed helping with all the programming that goes on here!
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