Fayette County Teachers Participate in Weightless Flight

Tammy Pakulski during weightless flight onboard G-Force One.

Two of Fayette County's teachers became zeronauts for a day and both thought their experience was, pardon the pun, out of this world.

Carol Taylor, a math teacher at Rising Starr Middle, and Tammy Pakulski, a science teacher at JC Booth Middle, took part in the Northrop Grumman Foundation Weightless Flights of Discovery Program on October 7. The teachers were participants in a zero gravity flight that is comparable to what astronauts experience in space.

“The experience was out of this world; it was fabulous,” says Taylor upon her arrival back to earth. “It was a fun and rewarding experience with applications connecting to classroom concepts. My accelerated students studied the vertical motion model while I was gone and I was able to discuss how the flight was a perfect example of what they learned.”

Here’s how the weightless flight works. The airplane, a 727 called G-Force One, climbs at a 50-degree angle, topping off at 31,500 feet and then goes into freefall creating a weightless environment inside the plane for 25-30 seconds. The maneuver is completed a total of 15 times giving participants about 6-7 minutes of weightless flight.

“The flight was much smoother than I had expected. Going weightless was actually a very peaceful experience,” says Pakulski. “The 1.8 Gs we experienced on the climb was not as bad as I thought it would be. You pull more Gs on the Mindbender at Six Flags.”

Both teachers have reached celebrity status at their schools, appearing on the closed circuit TV announcements and getting bombarded by students.

“When I returned to school I was mobbed by students, many I didn’t even know. They all wanted to know about the experience, “ says Pakulski.

Taylor was a special guest during her school’s morning announcements.

“I was dressed in my flight suit with my certificate in hand along with our school agenda and panther mascot that went along for the ride with me. The students have been extremely responsive school wide,” she says.

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Georgia Aquarium Hosts Education Conference September 22-24

Education Conference for nonprofit organizations working with at-risk students
Georgia Aquarium
September 22-24, 2008

PRNewswire-USNewswire -- The Georgia Mentoring Partnership (GMP) and the Georgia Parental Information & Resource Center (GA PIRC), in partnership with Communities In Schools of Georgia, are conducting a joint conference to provide resources and help participants better serve at-risk students. The event is open to anyone who wants to learn more about mentoring, parent engagement and other dropout prevention strategies. Participants will learn how innovative ideas and techniques can help establish and maintain effective school- and community-based programs. Hot topics that are frequently in the news, with suggestions on how to manage, will also be discussed. Visit www.cisga.org for registration information.

Event topic highlights and speakers include:

Financial literacy for youth provided by the FDIC

Gang awareness, what to look for, and how to minimize it (including a separate session on the infamous most dangerous gang, MS-13 and its infiltration in the southeast)

Dr. Susan Weinberger, known nationally as "Dr Mentor"

Susan Taylor, former editor of Essence magazine and now with the National Cares Mentoring Movement

Ron Clark, founder of the Ron Clark Academy

CIS is the nation's largest dropout prevention organization. CIS partners with local school districts and community organizations to connect needed resources and services to kids and families. In Georgia, 50 CIS local affiliates and 29 Performance Learning Centers(R) provide services to nearly 135,000 students in 66 school systems. Key programs include mentoring, tutoring, parent education, literacy, after-school programs, youth leadership, and PLCs. PLCs are geared toward high school students who are not succeeding in the traditional school setting. Communities sponsoring CIS programs have seen an increase in their school graduation rates, a decrease in violence and disruptions, and an increase in attendance and academic achievement. For more information, visit HYPERLINK "http://www.cisga.org/" www.cisga.org or contact Catherine Broussard at 404-897-2955 (w) or 404-788-9044 (c).

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