VENTURA : Teacher Selected for NASA Program

Catharine Bly said she was always an adventurous person, eager to travel and explore. She’s already been to many places on earth, but these days she has her sights set on outer space.

The 37-year-old bilingual teacher at E.P. Foster Elementary School in Ventura, was recently selected to participate in the NASA Education Workshop for Elementary Science Teachers. Next month, she will spend two weeks at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi to gain in-depth knowledge of aerospace education.

A devoted fan of the science-fiction television series Star Trek, Bly’s dream is to someday travel in space. “And I definitely think that that will happen,” she said.

She said her fascination with space travel began with the 1969 moon landing. But it wasn’t until NASA launched a nationwide search for a teacher to be the first civilian passenger aboard the space shuttle that her interests took shape.

“I took one of the applications, but I just didn’t have enough of the qualifications, so I never filled it out,” Bly said. “Since then, I’ve been working to learn more about aerospace and math and science--I’ll be ready next time.”

Among her new list of accomplishments, Bly holds credentials to keep and show moon rocks at the school. In addition, she has attended shuttle landing conferences, leads the Young Astronauts Club after school and is a member of the California Assn. for Aerospace Education.

“Before I started learning about what’s in--or rather what’s not--in space, I wasn’t very environmentally concerned,” Bly said. “But the more I learn about space and how unique and special our planet is, the more I see how important it is to preserve it.”