Fifth annual LBPSB Space Day sets students’ eyes to the skies

By Ian Howarth

John Scholefield would have been happy to see the small event he collaborated on in 2003 — now named in his honour — become an important annual educational event for the Lester B. Pearson School Board.

The event, officially known as the John Scholefield Science and Technology Day (a.k.a. Space Day) was named after the former president of Laurentide Aviation and owner of The Montreal Flying School in St. Hubert who died tragically in 2004. Space Day was created by Lockheed Martin with U.S. Senator and astronaut John Glenn in 1997, as a world-wide education initiative to expose students to careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, using aerospace as the theme or motivator.

Scholefield’s memory lives on through the LBPSB initiative and the participation of 30 community partners like McGill Let’s Talk Science, The Canadian Aviation Heritage Centre and the Pearson Electrotechnology Centre, among others. Hosted this year by Cooper Aviation (St. Lazare Airport and Flying Club) owners Jack Brown and Judy Cooper, hundreds of elementary and grade 7 students from LBPSB schools took in demonstrations and hands-on workshops from 50 volunteer exhibitors, offering students a unique educational opportunity, part of the LBPSB’s on-going initiative to enhance students’ experience in the areas of aviation, aerospace, science and technology.

After an opening speech via Skype from former Canadian astronaut Dave Williams from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where he is director for the new McMaster Centre for Medical Robotics, students headed out to various stations where they could sit in the cockpit of a Cessna or hear from former NASA astronaut trainer Brian Ewenson, who now heads up Astronauts in Space.

Nancy Battet, the LBPSB’s Community and Partnership Liason director, said the event was first hatched in 2003, celebrating the first 100 years of flight. “We phoned John (Scholefield) about starting a small event. It has now grown into one of the biggest of its kind in North America. This is part of our GOAL — guidance oriented approach to learning,” she explained. “It’s important for students to find relevance in their learning, to understand the relevance of science, technology, math and engineering in practical applications.”

Jack Brown and his wife Judy Cooper have owned Cooper Aviation since 2000. Both he and his wife were teachers at one time, he with The Sir Wilfred Laurier School Board on the South Shore and she at the LBPSB’s LaSalle Cooking School. “We love hosting an event like this,” said Brown. “The smiles from the kids, the wows and the surprise of first discovery, especially from the special needs students; that’s what I enjoy. It’s a real hands-on day, so boredom is not a factor.”