January 28th, 2020 marks 34 years since the space shuttle Challenger disaster. One of the seven crew members onboard the shuttle was Christa McAuliffe, a high school teacher from New Hampshire. She was the first civilian teacher ever chosen for a space mission.
When former President Ronald Regan and NASA announced a contest to take a teacher into space, Christa was quick to jump on the opportunity. She won the contest, beating out more than 11,000 other applicants. Christa saw the space mission as a chance to go on the ultimate field trip. She believed that by participating in the mission, she could help students better understand space and how NASA works.
On January 28th, 1986, The Challenger exploded 73 seconds after takeoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida. All seven crew members, including Christa, were killed. It was later determined that cold weather, combined with a design flaw, led to the accident.
More than three decades after the tragedy, we continue to celebrate Christa Mcauliffe’s legacy. We chose to name our school the Christa McAuliffe Academy School of Arts and Sciences because her story deeply inspired our school's philosophy and learning model.
Our goal at CMASAS is to encourage students to follow their dreams and passions throughout their educational experience. Our personalized learning model allows students to master the course material while giving them the flexibility to learn in their own way. We want students to walk away from CMASAS prepared for the ever-changing world ahead of them.
“If I can get some student interested in science, if I can show members of the general public what's going on up there in the space program, then my job's been done.” - Christa McAuliffe
