Announcements

Pedro Salazar was born in California but grew up in Mexico with his family. He came to the United States in 2013 without knowing a single word of English. Seven years later, he is studying Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State University and was recently accepted into the NASA Lucy Ambassador program.

“When I was a kid, I used to make paper planes and fly them around the house. I like aerospace engineering because it goes into depth on why and how airplanes fly. In this career, there is always something new to learn and explore.”

Salazar has been involved in various different NASA programs thanks to the help of Dr. Woods, a physics and math instructor at the DMACC Boone campus. He participated in NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) and he is currently a NASA Ames Research Center Intern.

“He has been a very positive influence on other ESL students at DMACC showing them that they really can do anything they set their minds to. He is a founding member of a Latino Club and he has inspired countless other community college students to participate in NASA programs.  Pedro was a member of the DMACC Honors Program and graduated with honors.  He was also a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the International Honor Society of 2-Year Colleges and he represented DMACC on the 2019 All Iowa Academic Team,” Dr. Woods said.

He recently received the ISGC Merit Scholarship and hopes to find a mentor within the ISGC or the Aerospace Department and conduct research during his time at Iowa state.  Salazar got an email from L’Space about joining the ambassadors team and decided to apply.

“My goals for my time as a Lucy Ambassador are to make at least three presentations during this academic year and I really hope to do one to the Hispanic community in Spanish. I feel grateful because I will serve as an example that anything is possible even when the odds are against you.”

Salazar is currently attending training sessions and learning all the material for his position. So far, his biggest challenge is getting over his fear of public speaking. His favorite part is that he has the opportunity to encourage more students to be involved in NASA programs, as well as building awareness in the community about what NASA has to offer.

“Pedro is an amazing individual.  He tries opportunities that others don’t want to try.  He puts himself out there and works so hard to accomplish all of the things he sets his mind on,” Dr. Woods said.

After graduation, Salazar hopes to continue his education and attend graduate school. He then hopes to work at a NASA center as a project manager. During this time, he hopes to create a non-profit organization to help kids with disabilities and a mentoring program to help future engineering students make deeper connections to their fields.

Parents, teachers and students:

The Commercial Crew Program is holding an artwork contest now through October 28, 2020 for children ages four to 12 years old. The winning artwork will be used to create a 2021 calendar, which has a different space-related theme for each month.

Help children get education on topics like the International Space Station, astronauts, growing food in space and much more!

For more information visit: https://go.nasa.gov/3jiZxG4

Ever since she graduated kindergarten, Mackenzie Klima has dreamed of becoming a teacher. Over the summer, she virtually taught middle schoolers in Salvador, Brazil about her experiences in STEM and working with NASA, and tutored kindergarteners, first, and third graders in reading.

“I’m inspired by anything that challenges me. That rush of the ‘light-bulb’ moment is exhilarating, and STEM provides me those moments regularly. Math and science have never been strengths of mine in the traditional sense. Before I arrived at Iowa State, I didn’t have the confidence to think I could ever succeed in a STEM-related field.”

Klima grew up in Prior Lake, Minnesota and graduated from Prior Lake High School in 2015. She chose to attend Iowa State University because of its Educator Preparation Program. She is double majoring in Spanish and Elementary Education. Klima can speak both Spanish and English and hopes to pair her Spanish and elementary education degrees to teach in a bilingual elementary classroom.

During her time at Iowa State, Klima spent three years as the Educational Outreach Director for PrISUm Solar Car. As Outreach Director, she worked with various organizations and community members to coordinate all outreach events involving the solar car. During the summer of 2018, Klima had an internship at the NASA Ames Research Center as the Aeromechanics Branch Outreach Coordinator for the Mars Helicopter. In the fall of 2019, Klima had an internship at Twin Cities PBS in St. Paul, Minnesota helping develop and research STEM curriculum to align with the new PBS Kids show, “Hero Elementary.”

“I love everything about education, especially teaching English Language Learners and STEM.”

In December of 2017, Klima met Jay Staker at the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Holiday Reception. He encouraged her to apply for the Partner Schools Program and she was accepted and attended the Marshall Space Flight Center Workshop for educators in February 2018. During one lunch with Mr. Staker and the tour guide at Marshall, Klima learned that NASA provided internship opportunities to educators, so she applied. During the summer of 2018, she was able to intern at the NASA Ames Research Center, all thanks to Tomas Gonzalez-Torres, Jay Staker, Carmen Fuchs, and the administrative team at the Iowa Space Grant Consortium (ISGC).

Over the summer, Klima was given the opportunity to speak with two middle school classes at the Colégio Cândido Portinari bilingual program in Salvador, Brazil. Klima was connected to the program by her friend, Daniela Gerbasi Dantas, who is a teacher at Colégio Cândido Portinari.

“Daniela asked if I would be comfortable speaking to her students on Google Meet about my internship at NASA in 2018. I agreed and virtually met with her class of 7th graders on June 12th. Word spread throughout the school and I was given the chance to present to a different class of 8th graders on July 17th.”

While speaking with the students at Portinari, Klima was delighted to discover their curiosity and knowledge of NASA. A few students were huge NASA fans, and were eager to ask her questions about various NASA missions.

“I learned that children’s love for inquiry-based STEM education is universal. ”

This fall, Klima is student-teaching in Houston, Texas. Klima says she will happily incorporate STEM into her lessons whenever possible. She recently purchased the picture book, “Hidden Figures”, by Margot Lee Shetterly, and plans on reading it to her students this fall.

“It is crucial to show students that people who have been able to have exciting STEM opportunities and careers are human. We have made the same mistakes and struggled in the same classes. Our engineering projects have broken. Our science experiments have gone awry. Our math problems are complex. Our code sometimes doesn’t work for weeks on end. Students must see that their roadblocks are universal, and that these goals are still attainable through trial and error. As an educator, it is my honor to work with students as they learn through these processes, and outreach events are an integral piece of STEM education because they can inspire students to persevere through difficult obstacles.”

Newly released this month, the ISGC has established the Education and Outreach (E&O) Program. E&O is a new category of funding as we start our program cycle for 2020 through 2021. E&O will provide support for ISGC formal and informal education, outreach affiliates.

Go to the ISGC website to learn more. The call for proposals for informal education can be found on the new E&O funding page.

The PDF is also provided here for in-depth criteria and program description: Education and Outreach RFP. The deadline is July 1, 2020.

Questions should be directed to the Associate Director: Jay Staker – jstaker@iastate.edu, 515-294-8417, or Assistant Director for Education: Sara Nelson – sdnelson@iastate.edu, 515-294-7021.