Twenty Five Years Ago

The 25th anniversary of the Challenger explosion took place 3 days ago. It's very common for all of us to share what we were doing and where we were when certain incidents happened, either close to home, or affecting the world. I would have to think this one affected the world.

I was teaching 3rd grade in San Diego, California at the time and everyone was talking about the crew of the Challenger and how one special teacher would be chosen to be a part of the NASA Teacher in Space Project . A call for teacher/applicants went out across the nation. I chose not to pursue the trip into space, but my sister-in-law, Connie did. She was even called back for a second interview.

A teacher named Christa McAuliffe was chosen from more than 11,000 applicants to participate and she was scheduled to become the first teacher in space. She was going to teach two classes while out there, and my class and the rest of the school waited in anticipation. The morning of the take-off, there was a dry wind blowing across the playground as the students lined up to come into the room. One of them reached down to pull a Weekly Reader from her leg and brought it over for me to see, as this story had made the front page. I asked her to bring it into the class and we would read it together.

Our habit was for the children to put their things away, then come and sit at my feet on a rug in front of the room and we would talk about our plans for the day after taking roll, saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and singing a patriotic song. This day was no different up to that point. I showed them the picture of Mrs. McAuliffe in her space suit and one of the children asked me why I hadn't applied. I looked at them and laughed and said, "Because I knew I'd win!" They didn't understand what I was talking about, but I did get a smile out of them nonetheless.

We started the day with our reading groups and we were about halfway through when the reading specialist walked through the door with a handful of papers with a single sentence typed on it: "We regret to announce that the Space Shuttle Challenger has exploded and there are no survivors." Everything went into slow motion from there. The children were watching me and I was doing everything I could to keep from crying. I knew I had to say something, so I read the note I had just been handed. I heard a snicker in the back of the room, and it upset me. I then told them all, "Before you say anything...just remember that someone has just lost their mother, father, sister, or brother." It probably wasn't the best thing to say to a group of 3rd graders, but it was all I could think of. My heart was breaking for those families who had to have watched their loved one's last moments.

I don't know how I got through the rest of the reading groups. I rushed to the teacher's lounge once the children went out to recess, and there I saw the explosion being replayed over and over. It brought tears to my eyes and a sadness to my heart that I had never known before and have not had since. It stayed with me the whole day and I can honestly say that was the worst day of my life up to that point.

I know there were other members on that shuttle and recently learned that one of the astronauts, Ronald McNair, graduated from NC A & T University in Greensboro, NC. My heart goes out to those who have to relive the sadness every anniversary, but even more so because it was so public. I hope that people console those left by letting them know it touched many of us and that our hearts broke with theirs that day.