Downlink showcases teachers on Earth—and off

The children at Brookwood Elementary had anything but library voices while waiting for a call from the International Space Station to come through. The excitement in the air was palpable, but perhaps the widest smile in the room was from Ricky Arnold’s wife and fellow teacher Eloise Arnold. 

Though Eloise hadn’t coordinated the event at Brookwood Elementary, she had first brought the opportunity to their attention. Everyone, from the principal to the technician, pulled together to make it happen.

The principal of Brookwood introduced Eloise after astronauts Ricky Arnold and Scott Tingle finally appeared on the screen. Ricky’s rejoiner—“I have heard that name before”—caused the room to erupt with laughter.

Brookwood is where the Arnold family’s daughters attended elementary school and is currently where Eloise works as the special education team leader. What is obvious to outside observers is that Eloise is the nexus in the school for all the things space.

Often it is the astronaut that gets the applause but, during the downlink, Ricky made sure to speak about the challenges facing his family on the ground. When asked what it was like to be sent to space, he deferred to his wife.

“For me—and not true for all spouses—for me it’s the hardest part,” Eloise said, “because you’re watching your husband [and] basically there is a fire—this huge, powerful force of fire—and he is on top of that. For those few minutes, your emotions overtake any sense that you have.”

Eloise explained that she never expected her husband would become an astronaut. They were both teaching overseas when he heard the call for educator astronauts and decided to “throw his name in the hat for the class of 2004.”

“I never gave it a second thought,” Eloise said, “[but] he kept making it through [to] the next round, then the next round … and it started to get surreal after a while. He never in a million years thought he would be the one that made the final round.”

Some of Ricky’s responses during the downlink even managed to catch Eloise off guard.

“I thought he would say his most challenging job would be an astronaut, not a teacher,” Eloise said. “I think it made a lot of people happier, because it’s the truth. Teaching is very challenging and takes a special person.”

The downlink was not only enjoyable for the kids, who were excited to be out of class doing something other than normal coursework—it added a rush of inspiration to a regular school day.

“As an educator, it is very gratifying to see the kids and how excited they are … just to get them excited about things other than taking tests. After seeing [how] a teacher became an astronaut, I think it is really motivating.”

Educational opportunities and resources are abundant in this Year of Education on Station. Learn more about what education materials NASA’s Johnson Space Center can provide at this website, or forward specific inquiries regarding downlinks here.

In a world where astronauts enter the classroom, we find a generation encouraging an entirely new caliber of teacher and student.

Melanie Whiting
NASA Johnson Space Center