Guest Speakers Take Students from Earth to Mars

Jeff Penner ’88, meteorologist with KSHB 41, visited prekindergarten students on Monday, April 14, and told them his his passion for weather began during his time at Barstow. He recalls being interested in weather from a young age and observing clouds through the classroom windows at Barstow. Penner conducted a weather demonstration using a bicycle pump to create air pressure to form a cloud in a bottle and read a weather-themed children’s book. He answered questions from curious students about everything from clouds and rain to tornadoes and blizzards. Penner is a regular Barstow visitor who generously shares his knowledge with students.before to share his weather knowledge. During a visit last yer, ast year, he demonstrated how tornadoes form.

While pre-K learned about weather on earth, fifth grade students discussed conditions on the moon and Mars with a visitor from NASA. Alicia Cianciolo, NASA aerospace engineer, visited fifth grade on Thursday, April 17, to talk about her career studying and developing equipment that can travel, land and function on the moon and Mars.

Cianciolo always knew that she was interested in a STEM-related field. She studied physics at Creighton University, and after learning about the Mars Pathfinder mission in 1997, she decided that she wanted to work for NASA. She took an internship at the NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia, where she still works today. Over the years, she has helped develop tools and systems that can safely transport and land equipment, and eventually people, on Mars. Her team is now working on a mission to send astronauts to the moon for the first time in decades. This crew will include the first woman and first person of color to land on the moon.

When asked about her favorite part of the job, Cianciolo said that she enjoys the challenge of problem solving. She encourages students who are interested in doing similar work to get involved with NASA’s various programs and internships. NASA offers internships to students in high school and college, and they cover a wide variety of topics and areas of interest.

Cianciolo ended her talk with a proposed challenge: her photo is hanging somewhere in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and she has tasked the fifth grade class with finding it when they visit the museum during their trip to Washington D.C. at the end of April.