"I witnessed students enthusiastically learning and totally engaged."  

Since leaving the Astronaut Office in 2007 I have been working on numerous STEM outreach programs with goals to inspire and excite our next generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers. I was fortunate enough to work with Higher Orbits and their Go For Launch! Programs since the first year the programs began. I witnessed students enthusiastically learning and totally engaged.  Besides being educational, inspirational, and a lot of fun, the programs are also transformative.  From learning about the experiences of being in space from myself and other former NASA astronauts to learning about science being conducted aboard the International Space Station and future planned missions with NASA’s new Space Launch System rockets, I saw the same intent and focus in their eyes that I had many years ago when I was their age.  It was particularly rewarding for me to see their teamwork and communications skills improve every day of the program as they worked through various challenges and assignments.  What these students were able to achieve during the three-day programs was phenomenal, and the creativity and originality of their proposed ISS experiments was truly amazing.  I only wish that there had been a program like Go For Launch! when I was in high school!