Katherine Johnson Technology Magnet Academy Students Take the Celebration of their Campus Namesake’s 104th Birthday to NASA Space Center
The DeSoto Independent School District’s Katherine Johnson Technology Magnet Academy (KJTMA) took their campus namesake’s 104th birthday celebration to space - via a school-wide field trip to NASA’s Johnson Space Center on Friday, August 26, 2022 - the birthday of the legendary NASA mathematician hidden-figure, Mrs. Katherine Johnson.
About 400 students, in grades K-8, loaded buses with their teachers and parents before daybreak to visually experience the career path, and work, and better understand her legacy. namesake.
KJTMA seventh-grade student, Emmanuel Rodriguez-Zayas was excited to see the vastness of the space center that he and his peers have been researching.
“We are going to the Johnson Space Center, it is one of the largest space centers in the United States and one of the most historical sites because of all the missions. They have the Saturn 5 rocket there onsite. It was the first rocket to make it to the moon,” he shared as he recounted some of the knowledge and skills gained during their project work.
Like Rodriguez-Zayas, KJTMA seventh grader Camila Fierro was truly excited to go on this journey. Her eyes lit up as she spoke of the thing she wanted to see the most during her NASA visit. I am so excited to go on this trip. I want to see the aircraft! She was an amazing human being who left an impact in this earth.”
Standing in the student check-in line, KJTMA eighth grader, Lelani Little Ford shared the value of this learning. “It is early and I am sure that we are all tired, but this trip is important because we are going to NASA to celebrate the birthday of Katherine Johnson, the place where she worked. We are living her history in our generation.”
This field trip is a complement to the summer-long learning journey of the school community which included parent learning sessions, student reading based on the book, Hidden Figures, and the summer learning research project presentations.
The goal is to:
Create a real-world learning experience for students and their families regarding the life and STEM legacy of Ms. Katherine Johnson
Allow students to see what is possible with STEM careers which is the signature focus of KJTMA.
Develop a better understanding of the context of Katherine Johnson’s work
Reflect on what her work means to our school and community
See themselves through the literature and life of Mrs. Katherine Johnson
KJTMA Spanish Teacher Isenia Romero shared the work, “ To prepare for our trip to Nasa this week, we engage STEM Week working on projects in math and science in all classes, even my Spanish class with 7th and eighth graders. We learned about various astronauts who have made an impact and were able to get into space because of mathematicians like Katherine Johnson.
“We want students to see that hard work and focus on STEM and how it can get you into places like NASA.” We ultimately want to give students an experience and for them to see how amazing math and science can be, and for them to carry on her legacy. We are grateful to Katherine Johnson who made this pathway easier for not just people of color but women.”
Rodriguez- Zayas added. “We have a motto here at KJTMA, I am because we are. We learned how to work as a group and as a team and are understanding how to be good peers to each other and to be disciplined in our work and be rewarded with fun trips.”
As students were checked in and the buses began to load, KJTMA fifth-grade student Elmon and his father Dan Pride were beaming.
“This is a great thing. It is good for the kids to learn about the namesake of their school and understand the contributions that she made to the success of NASA. It is good to celebrate the contributions of African Americans as a whole and how they impacted the world and society. This is not something that is usually shared, so we are glad to celebrate this momentous occasion,” said Mr. Pride.
This field trip is a complement to the summer-long learning journey of the school community which included parent learning sessions, student reading based on the book, Hidden Figures, and the summer learning research project presentations.
The overall goal is to unveil the history and to create a real-world learning experience for students and their families regarding the life and STEM legacy of Ms. Katherine Johnson. This experience is also academically rich and connected to future readiness because it allows students to see what is possible with STEM careers which is the signature focus of KJTMA.
KJTMA Principal Dr. Michelle Neely is living out a campus dream of being able to expose her students to the real world and is proud to help students to make such a foundational connection to the campus namesake.
“We are super excited to live out her legacy by traveling to NASA and to see how her work connects to our everyday lives,” said Neely. “We are super excited about this great day.”
Katherine Johnson TMA is an “A” rated campus in DeSoto ISD, earning SIX distinctions for the 2021-22 school year in the following categories: ELA/Reading, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Postsecondary Readiness, Comparative Closing the Gaps.