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Des Plaines teacher earns wings at Space Camp

Lake Bluff resident Colleen Storiz earned her wings this past week as she graduated from Honeywell Educators Space Academy in Huntsville, Alabama.

Storiz, a seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher at Science & Arts Academy, Des Plaines, was chosen from more than 800 candidates worldwide who applied for this elite scholarship. The Honeywell scholarship covered airfare, room and board and admission to the academy itself.

At Space Camp, Storiz met 200 teachers from all over the world. While at the academy, teachers were teamed up to complete two missions: A Discovery shuttle launch and an Orion lunar mission. During the Discovery shuttle launch, Storiz earned the prestigious position of flight director. She was a lunar mission specialist on the Orion mission, during which she and her teammates made repairs in full space gear on an abandoned lunar space lab.

She also spent the week learning about rocketry, water survival skills and the NASA space exploration program. She trained for her missions using both the MAT (multi-access trainer), which gives the sensation of falling through orbit, and the 1/6th gravity chair.

Storiz, a space enthusiast, blogged about her experience and plans on using her adventure as part of a young adult novel that she is currently writing. She also can't wait to take what she learned back into her classroom and share her experience with her students.

She would love to return to Space Camp with a class of seventh- or eighth-grade students one day.

"It was an incredible week. One I will not forget. I can't wait to get back to my classes and share it with them," Storiz said.

You can read all about her experience on her blog, http://cstorizblogsaboutit.blogspot.com.

For information, contact Colleen Storiz, science & Arts Academy Science teacher, at cstoriz@scienceandartsacademy.org.

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Colleen Storiz of Lake Bluff earned the prestigious position of flight director during a mock Discovery shuttle launch while attending Honeywell Educatiors Space Academy in Huntsville, Alabama. Courtesy of Science & Arts Academy
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