Jan. 14, 2025- Science Fridays went live on a Tuesday, which is understandable when you're working around a space schedule.
It was a live broadcast from the International Space Station, and Toms River students weren't just tuning in; they were asking the questions.
To astronauts. In space.
The "Ask An Astronaut" session was part of a full day of activities hosted by NASA and Science Fridays, and for the Q&A, students, teachers, and administrators gathered in the lecture hall at High School East.
"This is an amazing opportunity to make some interdisciplinary connections and see history in the making for our students, whether they're interested in aerospace careers or just want to be a part of something special," said Supervisor Tiffany Lucey who, along with teachers Lynn Cutini, Mike Konopka, Jessica Kurtz, Chip Phillips, and Kyle Austin, helped put the event together.
Keen planning on Lucey's part enabled students to submit pre-recorded questions in advance to astronauts orbiting the earth. Four district students pre-recorded questions, including High School East's Rishil Patel, MaryKate Markovitch, and Olivia Juralewicz, as well as Intermediate East's Lucas Lowery.
The hope going in was NASA might select at least one question from Toms River to broadcast worldwide and pose to astronauts Don Pettit and Butch Wilmore. Instead, all four students' questions were selected, and they led off the entire session consecutively.
It was a super exciting development inside the Joseph Monti Lecture Hall at HSE, and it all helped launch a day full of space- and science-related activities.