An Atmosphere for Space Education Upward Bound programs offer branch to STEM fields By Brad Gary
O
uter space can feel like a giant leap for a kid who has never even traveled across the country. But for a group of North Idaho high school students, two Upward Bound programs run by the University of Idaho have put the stars within reach. Over the past two summers, about 40 students experienced simulated space flight and zero gravity at NASA’s Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama — the culmination of a curriculum meant to spark their interest in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. The summer curriculum geared toward soon-to-be first-generation college students was “by far the best one we’ve ever done,” said Arielle Horan, director of UI’s Silver Valley Upward Bound program. The Upward Bound project is one of seven federally funded TRIO projects that are operated by the UI College of Education as a means to provide educational opportunities for all Americans regardless of race, ethnic background or economic status. The space-themed program began in summer 2015. A group of students from Kellogg and Wallace spent 18 IDAHO | SPRING 2017
time at UI’s Moscow campus and North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene to study sociology, science, literature and foreign language, all with a space emphasis. The success of the curriculum spawned its adoption by another Upward Bound program, Bridge Idaho, in 2016. Upward Bound is designed to take first-generation college students out of their comfort zones so they realize what it might be like to visit a different region or try out a new field of study. In many cases, Bridge Idaho Upward Bound Director Andrea Brockmeyer said such ideas give the students a realization that they can “handle it.” Putting aspiring astronauts in different settings, whether that be at a college campus or a far-away flight simulator, helps them develop a sense of autonomy and resilience so they can plan for the future, she said. As part of their six-week study, the Silver Valley students helped build a terraforming robot — one that would erect basic structures out of rocks, sand and dirt — with representatives from nonprofit design laboratory Gizmo-CDA. They also read Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles” and debated how best to set up their own society during a fictional two-year excursion to the red planet. Students wrote journal entries and a 32-page manual to highlight the fictional mission. Among their most pressing concerns were what freeze-dried food they wanted to bring on the six-month expedition to Mars and what kind of entertainment (karaoke, pool and laser tag) they would have available. “We did the whole summer program around that theme, so you have to pass that class to go to Space Camp,” Horan