Teacher brings NASA to classroom through Space Academy fellowship
Chris Miko at the NASA Advanced Space Academy last month. Image courtesy Chris Miko
Last year, Manhattan Beach elementary school science teacher Chris Miko received a National Aeronautics and Space Administration fellowship that allowed him to attend a weeklong Space Academy for educators from around the world. He was selected to attend the Advanced Space Academy this year, which took place last month.
Over the course of the program, 28 teachers attended sessions designed to give them new tools to bring back to their own classrooms. “The teachers that are there are all go getters, hard workers, they’re all passionate teachers,” Miko said. “It was quite a collaborative and creative experience for all the teachers involved.”
Miko hopes to bring some of what he learned to his new teaching position at Da Vinci Innovation Academy, which will open in late August. The school will be primarily project-based and will combine on-site instruction with home-based learning. “I’m excited to get my start over there, but very sad at the same time to be leaving Manhattan Beach,” said Miko, who taught at Meadows Elementary School for three years.
While the schools operate under different models, Miko’s new job will be similar to his old position at Meadows Elementary School. “Most of what I was doing at Meadows was about 60 to 70 percent project based anyways,” he said. However, at Da Vinci Innovation Academy each student will only be in the classroom for two days each week. The students will spend the rest of the week working independently on their projects.
Miko is looking forward to a flexible educational environment. “At Meadows, I had to work within the system and politics,” he said.
But it will still take some time to get used to, he said. “I do like some amount of structure,” he said. “And I was one of the more unstructured teachers [at Meadows].”
Last year, Miko put together rocket competitions for fourth and fifth graders in his district. The students made and launched paper rockets. “We’re going to continue the project next year,” said Miko.
Miko said that projects like the rocket ship competition have a strong NASA influence, which he believes will also be true of projects he creates in the future. “NASA will always be there,” he said.
Other MBUSD teachers have already begun following in Miko’s footsteps. Joanne Mitchell, a second grade science teacher at Meadows Elementary School, attended Space Camp last year and may apply for next year’s Advanced Space Academy in the coming months.
“It’s really cool to try it and bring it home and get other people passionate and motivated,” Miko said. “It makes such a difference for the kids and that’s what it’s all about.”