Monthly Archives: May 2011

Hosting America’s Best Teachers

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2011 Teachers of the Year

Educator Tim Grove engages the state Teachers of the Year in the "Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight Gallery"

Last week the Smithsonian Institution hosted the state Teachers of the Year, who were in town for their annual visit to the White House.  The teachers split into smaller groups to visit eight different Smithsonian units, and we were honored to have seven teachers come to the National Air and Space Museum.  They represented Texas, Minnesota, Louisiana, New Jersey, Connecticut, Utah, and Wisconsin.

Through an interactive tour, the Education staff showed them some of the challenges and opportunities inherent in designing positive learning experiences for  approximately eight million Museum visitors and millions more online visitors.  We started with a quick but mandatory stop in The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age exhibition where educator Beth Wilson demonstrated our Discovery Stations and invited the teachers to join her in some hands-on learning. Then they met curator Dorothy Cochrane in our brand new Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight Gallery and gained some insight into aviators Charles and Anne Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart.  They also talked with Beth Wilson and me about the ways that Museum educators bring our knowledge of learning theory and audience research to the exhibition development process.  We looked at various interactive components and discussed how we try to ensure that each visitor will find a way to engage with our exhibitions.  Then it was on to the Moving Beyond Earth exhibition, a new exhibition that looks at the topic of human spaceflight. They met Roger Launius, senior curator in the  Space History Division, and Paul Griffith, the gallery manager. The teachers tested their space knowledge by taking the Spaceflight Academy quiz  and they designed a module for a virtual space station.

2011 Teachers of the Year

Curator Dorothy Cochrane discusses Amelia Earhart with teachers in the "Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight Gallery"

The tour also included a brief spin through the popular hands-on gallery How Things Fly, and a look at some of the Museum’s amazing art collection. Maureen Kerr, chair of the Education Division, joined us and we ended the visit with a stimulating conversation about the kinds of materials we can offer teachers around the nation and how we can use technology to reach their states and beyond. They gave us an honest assessment of their challenges and successes with technology.  As we look toward using our new state-of-the-art presentation center and control room in the Moving Beyond Earth gallery, we found this conversation extremely valuable. It’s not every day that we get to pick the brains of Teachers of the Year.

2011 Teachers of the Year

Educator Beth Wilson demonstrates Bernoulli's Principle in "The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age " exhibition

I’ve participated in this program for five years now and it’s a highlight of the year. I enjoy seeing the enthusiasm of the teachers as they have rare opportunities to interact with Smithsonian staff and go behind the scenes. But even more, I leave inspired by some of the best teachers in our country. Their dedication to America’s students is obvious and their constant desire to look for new ways to engage their classes is encouraging.  We at the National Air and Space Museum salute all of the 2011 state Teachers of the Year.

Tim Grove is chief of Education for the National Mall Building.

Bill Chases the Hindenburg

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Bill Eaton

Bill Eaton, Museum volunteer

May 6th marks the anniversary of the tragic end of the airship Hindenburg, destroyed by fire as it came in for a landing at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, New Jersey, in 1937. Last year, to commemorate the anniversary, we posted the story of Anne “Cookie” Chotzinoff Grossman, who, on October 9th, 1936, spotted the Hindenburg in flight from her Connecticut schoolyard. She took off in hot pursuit along with her brother Blair, but the giant airship got away from them; Cookie and Blair trudged back to school, and Cookie was made to write “I will not follow the Hindenburg” on the blackboard a hundred times.

Last week I mentioned this story to my colleagues at the Museum’s Archives Division reading room at the Paul E. Garber Facility, and Bill Eaton, one of our volunteers, told us proudly that he too had chased after the Hindenburg as a child. We begged him to tell us the story; here it is:

The scene opens in the schoolyard of Blessed Sacrament School, Providence, Rhode Island. It’s the early afternoon of May 6th, 1937 and recess has just started. A bunch of the kids, including young Bill Eaton, seven years old and in the third grade, have just chosen sides for a round of Alevio, the hot game of the season. Suddenly, another group of kids starts shouting and pointing upwards. Bill looks up and spots the Hindenburg, sailing over Providence…

“… I really took a step back — Holy Smoke, it was big, really big! [It was] pointed right at us — just then, it began a slow turn to the left, showing us its complete side and tail. We could hear the motors — a vibrant hum — not too loud, but strong…”

Huge uproar among the Blessed Sacrament students ensues — ”What is it?” “Where’s it going?” And even “Is it dangerous?” Bill recalls that a number of the children were terrified of the huge, looming shape — one of the younger kids even had an unfortunate accident (Bill refuses to name the victim, even at this late date). One of the more air-minded kids tells the others that they’ve spotted the Hindenburg; Bill, his pal Bobby Aldritch, and a bunch of the other boys jump the schoolyard fence and take off after the dirigible, out to Regent and down Academy Avenue.

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Bill Eaton's Chase of the Hindenburg, via Google Maps.

The Hindenburg soon pulls out ahead of its pursuers, and as the kids watch, the airship begins a slow climb, levels off, and it’s gone, on its way to Lakehurst. Recess was still going on as Bill and his friends returned to the schoolyard. One of the teachers turns on the radio and they hear all about the great airship’s journey from Germany.

Later on at home, Bill’s mother also turned the radio on, and they heard the news from Lakehurst — at 7:25 PM, the Hindenburg caught fire as it was coming in to land — 13 passengers, 22 crew members, and one member of the ground crew died. On Saturday, Bill and his buddies went to the movies and saw the famous newsreel footage of the disaster.

Bill didn’t have to write at the blackboard, as Cookie did, because of his escapade, but he didn’t get off entirely scot-free, either. The eagle-eyed principal of Blessed Sacrament had spotted Bill legging it from the playground, and she called Bill’s father and turned him in. As his father listened to the principal’s testimony, Bill waited in trepidation — his father was not shy about handing out punishment. Imagine Bill’s relief when he heard his father reply, “Sister, Bill saw a piece of history today!” It was decided that, as a witness to history, young Bill could be excused just this once. And after his father hung up the phone, he said to Bill, “Son, you won’t forget this for the rest of your life.” Today, Bill Eaton is 81 years old, retired from the Air Force as an Electronic Warfare Officer on B-52s and B-66s. He lives in Vienna, Virgina, and kindly volunteers his time helping us catalogue and rehouse photographs from our Wright/ McCook Field Still Photograph Collection. And he still hasn’t forgotten the day he and his pals chased the Hindenburg down Academy Avenue.

Allan Janus is a museum specialist in the Museum’s Archives Division.