NASA’s space program may have lost some lift-off over the past few decades, but for the kindergarten class at Resurrection School their recent Blast Off Day celebration was hugely exciting.

 

By Sarah Varney

 

NASA’s space program may have lost some lift-off over the past few decades, but for the kindergarten class at Resurrection School their recent Blast Off Day celebration was hugely exciting.

 

Laura Romeo and Annette Ballone have been teaching students about the solar system, the planets, and their individual characteristics. The classroom was gaily decorated with spaceships, inflatable astronauts, a fog machine, and lots of space-related art.

 

For Blast Off Day the kids were dressed in long T’s featuring the NASA emblem, homemade space helmets, and astronaut “backpacks”. Each child also got the chance to experience some of the real-life excitement of a rocket launch using an 8-foot-tall “spaceship” complete with real-life “smoke” created using a fog machine.

 

As with any group of 5 year olds, the kids were full of interesting observations about Blast Off Day and the solar system. The issue of the Pluto controversy was addressed quickly. “We kept Pluto in the galaxy even though they say it’s not. We disagreed. It’s small but we think it is still a planet,” commented one assertive young lady. One young man mused about what would happen if he went into space with his homemade helmet: “If we really went into space we would blow up and our helmets would blow off too!”