January 22, 2010
Kim Elpers
Haubstadt teacher awarded fellowship with NASA
Kim Elpers has just received the news that she is one of 40 teachers across the United States to be awarded a fellowship with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She is a science teacher at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Haubstadt. (Message photo by Mary Ann Hughes) Click for a larger version.
By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)
Kim Elpers sits in her new state-of-the-art science room at Sts. Peter and Paul School, and remembers the two teachers who opened the doors to science for her. One was Mr. Mills, her high school science teacher, and the other one was her fifth grade science teacher, Mr. Russell.
“They are the reason I decided to go into science.”
This is her twenty-ninth year as the science teacher at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Haubstadt. She just recently received the news that she is one of 40 teachers across the United States to be awarded a fellowship with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
That means that she will be taking courses on line with the 39 other teachers. When she completes the five three-hour college credit classes, she will have a STEM [science, technology, engineering, math] degree from Columbia University.
She will also have the opportunity to see a space shuttle launch. “That’s huge,” she said. “I’m really excited about that.” And she and her fellow teachers will get to experience zero G’s of gravity. “They will take us up in the air to experience that.”
The opportunity to participate in the program will “really benefit me as far as seeing how other teachers are using technology and engineering in their programs. I already do a lot of math.”
Back in her high school days, chemistry and physics were her favorite subjects. She knew she wanted to do something with science, and “ended up a teacher. I love the children. I learn something every day.
“My lesson plans are never the same one year to the next. It depends on the class. We cover the same topics, but it definitely looks different year to year.”
She teaches grades kindergarten through five, and says that allows her to “get to know them so well. In science you see their natural curiosity. Science is exciting for them, and that makes it exciting for me.”
Her own curious mind — which was first exposed to science back when she was a fifth grader — continues to search for knowledge. This past summer, she spent 12 days in Italy following in the footsteps of astronomer Galileo during the International Year of Astronomy.
“It’s been 400 years since Galileo turned his telescope to look at the moon and at the moons of Jupiter,” she said. She visited the cathedral in Pisa where she watched a suspended chandelier swing back and forth and “figured out how a pendulum works.”
At the Leaning Tower of Pisa she saw where he illustrated that no matter what the difference in weight two heavy objects will fall simultaneously at virtually the same speed. And in Venice she saw the bell towers where he used his telescopes.
In 2004 Elpers shared diocesan Teacher of the Year honors with Helen Pesavento, a kindergarten teacher at Holy Rosary School, Evansville.