Benadette's presentation will focus on the Curiosity and Perseverance's Mars rovers; the Perseverance helicopter, Ingenuity; the current human diversity and continued need for more diversity in the space program; and the Artemis mission to the Moon with its explicit goal of diversity. Q&A to follow. Questions may be sent in advance to info@bwlibrary.org.
Benadette is setting aside 20 minutes during her presentation for participants to work on one of these activities:
Rover Coloring Page (ages 2-6)
Starshade Origami (ages 6-12)
Zipline Landing (ages 6+), limited kits available for pick up from the library. Email to reserve a kit. Instructions on YouTube
Open to all ages.
Preregistration required: bit.ly/BA-nasa
Co-presented with Otis Library, Stockbridge Library, and West Stockbridge Public Library.
Benadette is a math teacher at the BDEA/Pilot. She has been teaching for over a quarter of a century as an English teacher, a Math teacher, and a high school dean. She received a bachelor's degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Wisconsin and a masters degree in Education from Harvard University. She has been National Board Certified since 1998 and twice runner up for the Presidential Award for Math and Science Teaching. She is the co-founder of Classroomhives.org, a non-profit that installs beehives in elementary-high schools and colleges. She believes that all students can learn math and that students need the support of their teacher, a tutor, and their family in order to become competent. In her spare time, she is a triathlete, tinkers with microcontrollers and microprocessors, mother of four, and a grandmother of one.
This program is funded by grants from the Central Berkshire Fund of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation and Fairfield County’s Community Foundation.