By Riley McNeal
Grade 8, Caribou Middle School
Caribou Middle School students had a unique experience on March tenth. We were able to Skype with Dr. Jessica Meir. Dr. Meir grew up in Caribou, and graduated valedictorian of her class and is now training to be an astronaut. We had a school-wide assembly where Dr. Meir told us about growing up in Caribou and her professional experiences. We were able to ask her questions developed by the students and the jazz band played for her.
To open our assembly, Mr. Caron, our principal, introduced Dr. Meir to the school. She told us all about her career aspirations and the biological research that she has been involved in. I then had the honor to go the podium and welcome Dr. Meir and thanked her for giving us this great experience. After my introduction, I asked the first question, “When was it that you realized that you were going to be able to go up in space, and how did that feel?”
After Dr. Meir answered all of our questions, she then told a story about becoming an astronaut, and how hard she had to work to get to where she is today. She showed photos of the five years she spent in Antarctica monitoring emperor penguins as well as the time she spent studying geese and trained them to fly through a wind tunnel. Austin LaPlante, an eighth grade student, concluded the questions with a brief thank you. Other students who delivered questions were sixth graders Malachai Willey, and Alaina Quinlan, seventh graders Emma Hixon, Jay Belanger, Alya Theriault, and Alex Bouchard.
After the stories were told, the photos were shown and the questions were answered the Jazz Band performed for Dr. Meir. This held significance because when Jessica attended Caribou Middle School and Caribou High School, she played alto saxophone in band. Mr. McLaughlin, our Band Director, shared his memories of working with Dr. Meir as a student.
This experience is one that the students at Caribou Middle School will long remember.
