Courtney Hagen still remembers her trepidation at jumping from a tower and following a zipline to the ground.

“It’s almost like you’re going to fall, then it’s like you’re going along okay,” the 16-year-old Shawnee student said.

Hagen gained confidence and learned about science as she and three other students from Oklahoma School for the Blind attended the Space Camp for Visually Impaired Students, SCVIS. Joining Hagen were OSB students Jasmine Rahsparian, 16, of Norman; Caity Mathews, 16, of Caddo and Austin Goolsby, 17, of Muskogee.

The camp, held Sept. 26 to 30 at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., introduced students to aeronautical science and technology and took them through exercises to build teamwork and confidence.

OSB science teacher Cheryl Daniels, who also went to the space camp, said she was encouraged by the self-confidence her students gained.

“I see the kids just believing in themselves and seeing that it’s good to be around people,” she said. “The science is important, but it’s the confidence they seem to gain that I like.”

Participants did their confidence and teamwork exercises in a ropes course that included the zipline, rock wall, 50-foot wooden tower and a pamper pole that participants had to stand on before jumping toward a trapeze.

Goolsby said the zipline was “just amazing.”

However, the top of the pole was a little daunting, he admitted. “When you’re up there, it seems a lot smaller than when you’re on the ground.”

Students also got hands-on experience in feeling weightless and feeling G-forces.

“We learned a lot using models of space shuttles and doing Mission Control,” Goolsby said.

“We learned about how gravity affects us and what happens when you black-out or red-out,” Mathews said.

Students also found a unique way to remember how a jet engine works.

“Suck, squeeze, bang, bend and blow,” Hagen said.

Daniels said the SCVIS participants used the same facilities as participants of other space camps.

“But the week they were there, it was just for blind or visually impaired students,” she said. “They made all sorts of adjustments for the students. Everything was in Braille or large print.”

Computers and simulators were adapted for speech and large print output.

Daniels said the camp drew students from Australia, Ireland and Canada as well as the United States.

Her students said they especially liked meeting new friends from other countries.

“I expect to keep in touch with them,” Mathews said.



Reach Cathy Spaulding at 918-684-2928 or Click Here to Send Email