SPACING OUT MY FIRST WEEK ON THE JOB
The Metro School has generated a lot of attention since it opened. One of my duties is helping with guest tours, so imagine my excitement when I heard John Glenn had requested a visit!
I could barely contain myself… but then I noticed it was "business as usual" at Metro. These kids have been watched so closely this year, they've learned to ignore the paparazzi better than Britney Spears. These days, they barely look up when someone comes in the classroom to observe. Like I said … business as usual.
When Sen. Glenn arrived, we greeted him like groupies (OK, that was just me), and a student ambassador escorted him around the building describing daily life at Metro. (I like to say we "orbited with him in the open space" … but I'm a nerd.) The senator seemed very impressed and asked a lot of questions of the students he met. He also joked quite a bit and seemed to be having fun.
At the end of the tour, several of us "grown-ups" were talking with the senator. A student hesitantly approached and I thought to myself, "Cool! He wants to meet John Glenn, and I'm going to get to introduce him!" As I waited for a lull in the conversation to do just that, the student suddenly reached around a guest who had been blocking the opening to his "cubby." He grabbed his backpack and bolted for the door. Classes were over and he was on his way home! Oh yeah, this is still high school...
"Just a normal day in space."
- John Glenn, February 20, 1962
--- Posted May 11, 2007---
Diana Wolterman is on a two-year special assignment to Metro High School, where she will play a key role in furthering the collaboration between the private sector and education, including special projects to connect Battelle staff with the activities in the school, assisting with tours and visits, developing and implementing new experience-based curriculum support, and helping to document the process of creating a new STEM-focused learning experience. Diana also will document Battelle’s successes and missteps at Metro to help the organization learn from the experience and make good decisions going forward at Metro and in other educational activities.