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Kids are such a joy when it comes to science. They have a natural curiosity, and love the idea of other worlds and traveling through space. When you find kids that have an even larger dollop of that drive, it should be kindled, encouraged.
Here’s your chance to help do just that. Two fifth grade students from Indiana, Cameron Wade and Billy Shannon, both 11 years old, have an experiment that will launch onboard a suborbital NASA rocket. It’s part of a partnership between their school and NASA. The problem is, the grant they have doesn’t cover their own travel to Virginia to see the rocket launch!
They still want to go, of course. The trip will cost $3000, and they’re still $1000 from their goal.
Wanna help? I do, so I’m asking you to donate some money to this cause. Their teacher, Pam Ghaffarian, does not have a PayPal account, but I do, so I’ll keep track of the money collected and send it to her via check. Their flight leaves on June 4, but I will take donations up to June 6 (and I’ll post a reminder at the top of each new blog entry). She has already bought their tickets, and now it’s our chance to make sure that a teacher who has motivated these kids so much gets the support she deserves.
Note added May 31, 1:00 p.m. Pacific time: I removed the donation button; the goal of $1000 was reached within a few hours of this blog entry being posted!
If you want to help out, just click the button above. It’ll take you to the PayPal site, and you can pay via credit card if you don’t have a PayPal account.
These kids need the money, and by giving them some you’ll be helping the next generation of explorers. Thanks.
Hat tip to NASAWatch for this story.‘
May 30th, 2006 at 11:56 pm
Maybe I shouldn’t have read the critical thinking post first, but indiana to Virginia for a couple days = $3000? Where are they staying? The Four Seasons? Do they have, like, families, or something? Didn’t the Chinese way back when lay all sortds of railroad tracks around that area? Welcome to AmTrak, kids.
Ah, I’m just cranky from working 65 hour weeks. I’m sorry.
May 31st, 2006 at 4:18 am
I don’t understand the $3,000 either. Is this figure including the cost of lodgings for the summer? Certainly it’s not just plane tickets, so I’m thinking that it’s the entire trip’s budget…I hope. Can you verify this? I’d be happy to give a small donation, but…
If 150 people in their town gave $20 apiece they could raise the money. Have they approached the parents of their school? I would think the town would want to support these students as it would bring notoriety to the school. We raised that much selling cookies and washing cars. Hmm.
May 31st, 2006 at 4:48 am
Aw come on folks, they have raised two-thirds of the amount and I bet in very short time. Just need a little more to cover the extras that make a trip really worthwhile, as it is no fun trying to make do with too little, and not taking advantage of the opportunities that may pop up while on the trip.
Ivan.
May 31st, 2006 at 4:50 am
Perhaps I’m being too suspicious, but something about this just doesn’t seem “right”.
As has been mentioned, the trip seems a little “pricey”. As for “helping” the teacher get the support she deserves, well, NASA is giving the school a 17K grant over 3 years. I know that supplies cost a lot, but it’s not like there has been no “support”.
I’m also curious about the amount of money needed. In the BA’s blog, he says that they need 1,000 dollars, but in the linked article it states that they have only raised 500 dollars which would mean that they need to raise 2500 dollars. So which is it?
Finally, assuming that the 3000 dollars is reached, what will happen to any “extra” money collected?
May 31st, 2006 at 4:55 am
Although I suspect it’s the “whole trip” budget number, and I agree with the comments about “what about family”, it occurred to me that there may be other issues about why the money has to be raised instead of just paid. We have a pretty small window on it.
Wouldn’t it be sad if they couldn’t go?
In any case, as a business traveller who has logged enough miles to easily fly to the moon and back, there’s something about airfares that you might not be aware of. Sometimes a traveller needs a fully refundable ticket, and that means the cheapest fare is “full fare economy”, and by cheap I mean “only costs 1 arm and 1 leg”. These are not the $99 seat-sale fares that most people pay when they travel.
Why might they need a refundable ticket? Because launch dates are mercurial and can change on short notice due to weather or other situations that can cause a launch to be scrubbed for a few days or weeks. It would be much worse to get the kids there on a $100 flight and burn them for the money for another ticket AGAIN when the launch gets moved 3 weeks into the future and AGAIN when it gets put another 3 days late. Excursion fare tickets tend to not be refundable and have exhorbitant change fees, if you can change them at all, so it’s kind of a risk management thing – brave a cheap ticket knowing you might have to buy it a few times and lose money, or buy a full fare economy ticket and just trade it in as needed.
You’re also much less likely to get bumped on an FFE ticket.
So it’s just a guess on my part, but because it’s a rocket launch we’re talking about, they may well have been told to get fully refundable, fully changeable tickets.
May 31st, 2006 at 5:05 am
Another thought…
From the linked article…
Doesn’t it seem “odd” that they would have an essay contest and not be sure that they could “deliver” the prize??
I’m not trying to be a “hard nose” about this…I guess I’m still in shock that the BA would ask for money.
May 31st, 2006 at 5:08 am
Apparently, Ms Ghaffarian has never heard of Orbitz- I checked for a trip from Ft Wayne to Norfolk for a 7 day stay, and a nice WATERFRONT hotel stay was only $593 per person- a far cry from the $3000 price tag quoted in the paper.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the thought and applaud her for presenting her students with this opportunity, but she really needs to not let her travel agent do the booking without doing her homework.
May 31st, 2006 at 5:08 am
DOH!! The following was was what I wanted to quote from the linked article….
Everyone in Ghaffarian’s third- through fifth-grade multiage class wrote essays that were judged by the school’s office staff on why they should be chosen for the Virginia field trip.
May 31st, 2006 at 5:27 am
Evolving Squid, you’re making assumptions when a simple explanation of why they need $3,000 would suffice. Since it’s a local paper, I’ll assume it’s to help drum up publicity for these kids
I suppose it would be easy enough to contact the teacher:
May 31st, 2006 at 6:41 am
Send money first, think later. I’m in for $10. Not much but even if the kids use it for candy I’m not out more than the price of lunch.
May 31st, 2006 at 7:27 am
No, actually I was explaining why airfare might be more than you would pay on Orbitz or Expedia, and why it may (just a guess mind you) cost more than might otherwise be expected for a vacation trip from Indiana to Virginia.
I’ve made no assumptions at all, although I would consider it a reasonable assumption that they were told by the space flight centre, to book refundable tickets. I consider it a reasonable assumption because that’s what I would tell them if I was king of the space centre.
May 31st, 2006 at 7:33 am
Regardless of individual tickets, at least one guardian will have to go, probably the teacher. They’ll need to eat, they’ll need a place to sleep and I think it’s a great cause.
I’m in for $25 Phil.
May 31st, 2006 at 7:44 am
I called the Franke Parke Elementary School, and since Pam (the teacher) is on a field trip, Jim Emerson, who is the principal spoke to me for 20 minutes. Very pleasant. He explained the program at length, and the $3,000 is to cover the flight (which out of Ft Wayne to the destination town–the name he couldn’t remember–is expensive), plus room, plus a van rental from the airport, plus expenses–food, etc., for the teacher and two students for four or five days. That certainly makes sense.
They do have NASA sponsored trips throughout the year, but NASA will not fund the summer programs. They also get donations from Raytheon, ITT, GE and some others. (The teacher’s husband is a space engineer, too, which is why she may have this special interest.) Since this a three-year partnership with NASA, these companies have given funds before. He can’t answer why the local community does not help out more other than the two efforts cited in the article. (He said the article was not corrrect–the two students were not the ones who worked at McDonalds.)
He says that 60% of the 600 students at the school are on the free or reduced lunch fee program, and these kids are of that 60%. They are not likely to take a trip like this and “see the ocean” anytime soon in their lives. (I know someone in GA who has never seen the ocean!)
All excess money received is put into a fund, which he mentioned is heavily regulated by the State Board, so it is important that all checks or donations are made payable to: Franke Elementary School.
So, all extra monies will go to this fund for future trips of this nature. Ok, I’ll donate at least $10!
(Sorry, Phil, to be cynical, but you know…)
May 31st, 2006 at 7:49 am
Oops, forgot, Mr. Emerson said I could state all of the above. He actually mentioned a lot more. He personally went over all the essays, and their focus in on 4th and 5th graders who will old enough to go on such a trip with a chaperone. He’s very excited for these kids.
May 31st, 2006 at 7:50 am
RAF Said:
>I’m also curious about the amount of money needed. In the BA’s blog, he says that they need 1,000 dollars, but in the linked article it states that they have only raised 500 dollars which would mean that they need to raise 2500 dollars. So which is it?
Perhaps the BA has more recent information than the newspaper article? (I suppose he could chime in here.)
>Doesn’t it seem “odd†that they would have an essay contest and not be sure that they could “deliver†the prize??
No, it sounds reasonable that they could plan to send someone, that they have to be selective because they can’t send everyone, that they hope to raise enough money and in the meantime take care of the selection procedure so they don’t have to rush that last minute later. The trip is a hope, contingent on raising the funds. This does not seem unreasonable to me at all. How many of you have children who get the opportunity to go to some regional, state, or national competition for their organization team, but have to hold fundraisers to pay for it? Do they get to go if they can’t raise the cash? Someone has to pay – them or you.
>As for “helping†the teacher get the support she deserves, well, NASA is giving the school a 17K grant over 3 years. I know that supplies cost a lot, but it’s not like there has been no “supportâ€.
The BA didn’t say there had been no support. What he said was that the grant money can’t be used for the travel arrangements for the children, but the teacher/school have bought tickets anyway. She’s done a great job by getting the grant and using it to inspire all her children, so she deserves our support for her efforts to motivate. We can help by helping with the expenses that the grant can’t cover.
And I ask you to think of a public school that has $3000 surplus in their budget to cover things like special student trips.
May 31st, 2006 at 7:51 am
>>>Send money first, think later. I’m in for $10.
Ironic that the BA’s last Blog was the “cost” of uncritical thinking. You’ve just placed that cost at $10.
>>>…even if the kids use it for candy…
I hope you’re kidding…I fully support the idea of these kids going on the trip, but they can buy their own candy.
>>>I’m not out more than the price of lunch.
Some of us live on tighter budgets…
May 31st, 2006 at 7:54 am
Thanks, Melusine, I was planning to call, but you beat me to it.
May 31st, 2006 at 8:06 am
Irishman, perhaps Phil in his haste to post about this, knew more about it, but the principal of the school completely understood the questions and concerns of reaching out to other communities for funds. Space Today and other sites posted the link to the Ft Wayne article too.
This is one of a bunch of NASA-related trips that have already happened in the school (since this is an ongoing 3-year partnership), which may be why they are not garnering the support so easily. I feel confident they will do the right thing, and the kids worked for it with their experiments and essay. Gee, remember going on an airplane for the first time?
I did tell Mr. Emerson that Phil Plait at badastronomy.com posted about this and is collecting funds.
May 31st, 2006 at 9:00 am
1) $3000 sounded about right to me, since I travel a lot and know that flying from a non-busy airport to another can be very expensive. There are always cheaper options, but they don’t always work: timing, various restrictions, traveling with minors, etc.
2) I tried calling the school twice, but couldn’t get through, so I couldn’t followup that way. I did email Pamela, the teacher. The newspaper article was written a few days ago, and since then they have raised more money, so the $500 number was out-of-date. That’s why I wrote they needed $1000 more.
3) I know I never ask for money here, and in fact have turned away quite a few people who have offered to send me money. But that was for me. This is for a couple of kids whose enthusiasm needs stoking.
May 31st, 2006 at 10:06 am
Good job Dr. BA…… I’m glad your fan base checked it out for themselves but I’ll support your putting this on your blog always. I’ve seen too many wonderfully educational trips that have had to be passed by in our small isolated community because the funds weren’t there. And try to fly somewhere from Alaska to the lower 48……… those airports that don’t generate quantities don’t get those great discounts. We are just thankful we have an airport.
May 31st, 2006 at 5:43 pm
Y’know, I have to say that I find the cynicism here to be off-putting. It makes me sad.
It’s excellent to think critically, but some of you are basically saying that Phil wasn’t. You made up a whole bunch of stuff about whether or not the money was necessary, when Phil told you it was.
He went out of his way to do something VERY out of character – requesting donations. This is his site and I have to believe that Phil is very careful and thoughtful about what he posts here.
As for whether or not you are on a “tighter budget”, no one said how much you should give, and no one said you have to give. If you can’t afford to make a small donation, don’t make one. I often spend $10 for lunch, and it didn’t hurt me one bit to donate to the cause of two kids getting “juiced” by science. Hell, that’s what we here are supposed to be about!
Negative thinking is not critical thinking. Start with the positive. You’ll be better off for it.
May 31st, 2006 at 5:44 pm
By the way, Melusine, thanks for the effort. You done good!
May 31st, 2006 at 9:05 pm
Wow. Go away for two days and look what I miss. I would have given a few bucks as it looks like BA is extremely discriminating in matters such as this. I think this was a fine idea, and I’m really happy for the kids. This is what it’s all about, people.
May 31st, 2006 at 10:31 pm
I *said* I was cranky!
I’m also a cold hearted b*****d holding on to every penny so as to retire at 50, or sooner if possible.
And I hate kids.
No, just teasing.
But only just. Seriously, I have no pateince for them at all.
June 1st, 2006 at 4:00 am
OK. But if there were no kids, there would be no one for you to rant about in your dotage. (And I’m 51!)
June 1st, 2006 at 6:59 am
As a future teacher, and somebody who has worked as an educational assistant at a planetarium, I applaud the BA for his actions on this one. Schools are broke… people are tired of hearing about it (usually the ones in more affluent areas, which harbor the few schools that aren’t broke), but it’s true. And grants don’t cover everything – even ones from NASA. They’re usually very specific about what you can spend the money on, and in this case it probably involved getting the experiments up in the air (the meat of the project), and not on getting the kids out to see the shuttle launch (as this isn’t necessary for the project to be successful).
And, since they raised $2,000 already, I’m willing to assume that was a result of help from the community. Also, I have to say I’m both amazed and touched by the fact that the other $1,000 was raised so quickly, despite all the negativity on here.
I understand, especially now, the unwillingness to part with money, but I trust the BA to do his research before asking for assistance for any cause. And I’m sorry I wasn’t able to donate, but I’m extremely pleased the money was raised. I’m sure this is something those kids will remember for the rest of their lives – what kids do you know that have positive science-related memories? Thank you, BA – perhaps the future generation will be more like these two kids, and we can weed the IDers out that way.
June 1st, 2006 at 8:09 am
BA Brother said:
Negative thinking is not critical thinking. Start with the positive. You’ll be better off for it.
When money’s involved I question…if you want to characterize that as “negative thinking”, so be it…
I have nothing more to say on this subject…except, I’m glad to see that the kids get to go on their trip.
June 1st, 2006 at 9:18 am
This isn’t directly related to the kids’ trip, but is related to “stoking enthusiasm” for science. Wired.com had an article on how scientific curiosity is being squelched in the name of security, I thought folks might be interested in reading it:
http://wired.com/wired/archive/14.06/chemistry.html?pg=1&topic=chemistry&topic_set=
June 1st, 2006 at 10:43 pm
Just curious – are the kids going to blog their experience?
jbs
June 2nd, 2006 at 11:30 am
BA Brother said:
>Y’know, I have to say that I find the cynicism here to be off-putting. It makes me sad.
I’m not sure I see that much cynicism here.
>It’s excellent to think critically, but some of you are basically saying that Phil wasn’t. You made up a whole bunch of stuff about whether or not the money was necessary, when Phil told you it was.
Wait a minute, critical thinking is about thinking critically all the time. It’s about evaluating all claims whatever the source. Nobody is immune from critical review. Phil is just as much responsible for justifying his position and claims as anyone else – he doesn’t get a free pass, either. Phil told us he thought it was needed, but there were some legitimate questions that people had that weren’t answered by Phil’s original entry. They shouldn’t be castigated for asking questions.
>He went out of his way to do something VERY out of character – requesting donations. This is his site and I have to believe that Phil is very careful and thoughtful about what he posts here.
I believe he is, too, and no, he doesn’t typically request money. I trust that he is responsible and aware and did his homework. But that’s not the point. I should do my homework, too. Including understanding why the expenses are so high if I don’t think they should be, or finding out why the local community can’t provide if I expect them to be able to. That’s not doubting Phil, that’s reaching my own conclusion.
>As for whether or not you are on a “tighter budgetâ€, no one said how much you should give, and no one said you have to give. If you can’t afford to make a small donation, don’t make one. I often spend $10 for lunch, and it didn’t hurt me one bit to donate to the cause of two kids getting “juiced†by science. Hell, that’s what we here are supposed to be about!
Yes, no one was required to send money. People felt the desire to help, and they felt conflicted between the possible benefit and need versus the questions they had over the details. So they expressed their conflict here for group discussion to help find answers one way or the other.
Admittedly some people did question the expense without being aware of all the underlying needs that drive the price up. Yes, they posted comments based upon that ignorance. They weren’t malicious, just uninformed. I don’t fault them for that – we’re all ignorant about a lot of things. The key is are we able to learn or stubbornly refuse new information.
Phil, good job in spreading the word and helping out. This kind of positive outreach is great.