People all over the nation are remembering the Challenger astronauts with ceremonies of their own on Thursday. In San Antonio, Southwest ISD has several schools named after several of the astronauts: Francis "Dick" Scobee, Ronald McNair, Christa McAuliffe and, most recently, Judith Resnik.
Students at McAuliffe Middle School held a special ceremony Thursday to honor the astronauts and their fellow crew members.
"Our students come to school here every day. One of the things we have to ask ourselves is, ‘They see the name Christa McAuliffe, but do they really know who Christa McAuliffe was? Do they understand what her contribution was to not just the space station, but to history?’" Principal Adrian Ramirez said.
On Thursday, the 30th anniversary of one of the deadliest space shuttle disasters in our history, many of the students learned just that.
"July 19, 1985, Christa McAuliffe was selected by NASA to be the first teacher in space," sixth-grader Isaac Gutierrez announced over the loudspeaker.
The students held a special ceremony and moment of silence honoring the woman, mother, teacher and astronaut their school was named after.
On Jan. 28, 1986, the Challenger space shuttle carrying seven astronauts -- Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik, Lt. Col. Francis "Dick" Scobee, Ronald McNair, Cpt. Michael Smith, Col. Ellison Onizuka and Christa McAuliffe -- exploded just 73 seconds after launch. All the astronauts were posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
"I think the tragedy hit pretty close to home for a lot of people, especially teachers," Ramirez said.
On display at the middle school office are several items memorializing McAuliffe, including a framed photo, a bust statute and her NASA uniform.
"She helped me to realize my potential so we can succeed here at McAuliffe [Middle School] just as she did. They can reach for the stars, as they say, and accomplish great things. She proves to me and to the kids how ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things," said Phillip Salcedo, an eight-grade academic readiness coach at the school.