In the fall of 1985, Art Kimura thought he was a strong contender to be the nation鈥檚 first teacher in space.
After all, the Hawaii state finalist had a background in both science and aeronautics. A biology teacher at a Honolulu high school, he had spent more than a decade in the Air National Guard, after serving 4 1/2 years in the U.S. Air Force.
Today, the genial, barrel-chested Kimura smiles at his naivete.
鈥淭he choices they made in Christa [McAuliffe] and Barbara [Morgan] were great choices. Everyone could relate to them,鈥� he says of the high school social studies teacher and the elementary school teacher who were selected as winner and backup, respectively.
Even if he wasn鈥檛 selected, Kimura saw his participation as a way to stand up for his state.
鈥淚n Hawaii, a lot of people disqualified themselves,鈥� he says, noting that 19 teachers applied from his state, compared with 1,000 from California. 鈥淚f the line was 10,000 teachers long, I wanted to be in line.鈥�
The Challenger disaster鈥攅specially the deaths of McAuliffe and Ellison Onizuka, a shuttle crew member from Hawaii鈥攖urned his pride into a sense of mission.
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鈥淚f the Challenger had flown successfully, I wouldn鈥檛 be sitting with you right now. There鈥檚 no doubt that changed my entire career path,鈥� he says.
In another fateful twist, then-Gov. John Waihee began campaigning to build a Hawaiian facility for launching space satellites. The state鈥檚 new office of space industries 鈥渂orrowed鈥� Kimura from the department of education for seven years to direct a many-faceted space-education program.
鈥淎t that time, I鈥檇 gone into school-level administrative training. For 12 years that process went on hold,鈥� says Kimura, now 53.
In the interim, he visited every one of Hawaii鈥檚 schools, presented 1,500 programs in nine years, conducted hundreds of teacher workshops, and helped organize a series of annual space conferences that involved more than 1,000 teachers.
In 1991 he became the program director of 鈥淔uture Flight Hawaii,鈥� an ongoing summer program for families and students that culminates in a mission to a lava field to simulate Moon or Mars landings.
Between 1987 and 1992, Kimura and his wife took about 500 students to the U.S. Space Camp center in Huntsville, Ala.鈥攁 program that many Hawaii children continue to attend, although the state now has its own space camp, which Kimura helped start. The launch-site development scheme never panned out, however.
Only this year did Kimura make it to the ranks of school administrators. He鈥檚 now the vice principal of Kapiolani Elementary School on the island of Hawaii.
He brings to this job a conviction that space-related problems鈥攕uch as theorizing about future agriculture on Mars or studying the effect of weightlessness on the body鈥攇ive students reasons to learn academic content.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 put every child in the space shuttle. You can create the illusion or simulation and allow them to experience it in that context,鈥� Kimura says. 鈥淵ou can create an opportunity to learn.鈥�
