Blind student ready to fly at space camp
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- To: <BlindNews@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2007 22:22:42 -0400
Detroit News, Michigan USA
Friday, September 21, 2007
Blind student ready to fly at space camp
By Charles E. Ramirez
Caption: Jeff Humphrey learned about space camp last year in Dina Exline's
astronomy class at Chatterton Middle School in Warren.
7th-grader will attend NASA program that features simulations of missions in
space.
WARREN -- Jeff Humphrey has his sights on the stars.
The seventh-grader at Chatterton Middle School in the Fitzgerald Public Schools
district hopes to become a pilot or an astronaut when he grows up.
"But I'm not sure how the future looks for blind astronauts," he said.
Jeff, who has been legally blind since birth and uses a white cane to guide
him, will get a glimpse of what spaceflight is like beginning today.
The 14-year-old from Warren received a $400 scholarship to attend Space Camp
for Interested Visually Impaired Students at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in
Huntsville, Ala. He is scheduled to leave this morning for the week-long
program.
"It's the first time I've ever been on an airplane, too," he said. "I've been
so excited about the whole thing that I've been having trouble sleeping."
Jeff is the first Chatterton Middle School student with a visual impairment to
attend the space camp, said Dina Exline, who teaches astronomy, aerospace and
technology classes at the school.
"I admire Jeff," said Exline, who has been to two space camps at the Space &
Rocket Center. "He never complains about anything, and he never gives up. He
always finds a way to do whatever it is he wants to do."
It was in her astronomy class last year that Jeff learned about space camp, he
said. He applied for a scholarship and submitted an essay on why he wants to
travel in space and what role blind people may play in spaceflight.
The camp uses space travel to fuel students' interest in math, science and
technology. It also encourages teamwork, communication and self-confidence.
The program features high-tech simulations of space travel and NASA space
missions.
Dan Oates, coordinator of the Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired
Students, said the 18-year-old program this year has drawn 161 students from 26
states as well as Canada, Ireland, Israel and Liberia.
Jeff is one of 30 students who received a scholarship, Oates said.
Tuition for the program for visually impaired students like Jeff is $675, plus
the costs of travel.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070922/METRO/709220355/1014/METRO03
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