Latest news with #Kranz
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA legend Gene Kranz returns to mission control
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Gene Kranz, who served in Apollo mission control as "White Flight," was at the head of the room when Apollo 11 landed on the moon and Apollo 13 "had a problem." He may have never said "Failure is not an option," but his record of success has earned him a prestigious award. On May 15, 2025, Kranz received the 2024 American Astronautical Society (AAS) Lifetime Achievement Award for his "exemplary leadership and a 'must-never-fail' style that ensured historic mission successes, empowered human space exploration, saved lives and inspired individuals around the world." Prior to a public celebration at Space Center Houston, Kranz revisited his former workplace — the now history Apollo mission control room at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In this photo, he poses with his award at the restored console where once led flights to the moon. "Gene didn't just help put humans on the moon, he helped build the mindset that made missions possible. Forging ahead into the Artemis generation, we still see the lasting impact of Gene's leadership today," said Steve Koerner, acting director of the Johnson Space AAS lifetime achievement award is only presented once every ten years. Previous honorees have been Werner von Braun (1964), William Pickering (1974), George Low (1984), Norm Augustine (1994), Pete Aldrige (2004) and Ed Stone (2014). You can read about the role of NASA flight directors and another way that veterans of Houston mission control have been honored.
Chicago Tribune
18-03-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Forrestal Elementary construction viewing has student beaming; ‘This makes it real for them'
On a frigid day in December, Forrestal Elementary School first graders went outside to write their names on a white steel beam which they were told would be part of the new school being built immediately next door, where they will be among the first ones to learn. Fast forward three months and those same students watched wide-eyed as a construction crane lifted the white beam bearing their names, and those of the rest of the school community, into place on the structure. It is the final steel beam on the new building. 'It's exciting,' McKenzie, a first grader in Laura Rosenkrantz's first-grade class, said. 'School will be really cool because we'll be able to see where we wrote our names,' Barb added. Forrestal's first graders had a front-row view outside as the crane lifted the final beam into place as the rest of the student body watched a livestream of the event Tuesday in North Chicago marking a major step toward completion of the building. With the first-grade classrooms positioned on the south end of the existing school building, Principal Cara Kranz said the children there get a firsthand view of the construction workers erecting the building they will enter as third graders in August of 2026. Kranz said when the students signed the beam in December, they did not really understand the purpose of what they were doing. But, seeing their names on the beam as it was lifted into place made it easier to understand. 'It's an exciting day,' Kranz said. 'They saw where it will be in the building. This makes it real for them. The steel really makes a difference when they see the steelworkers up high putting it in.' Built in 1957, the current building is in disrepair, but North Chicago School District 187 Superintendent John Price said the test scores there are the best in the district. He anticipates the new building will help them achieve even more. 'The current building is hot in the summer, cold in the winter and you can't drink the water,' Price said. 'The new building will raise (the test scores) again. It will be a 180-degree change. It will have everything new.' Making the morning special for the students, Kranz said she picked specific music to build their excitement. It started with sounds from the Harry Potter movies, and built to a crescendo with the theme from the movie 'Rocky' when the beam was lifted into the air and then put in place. A joint effort between District 187 and the U.S. Navy — 25% of Forrestal's students are from military families — Price said $57 million of the $72 million project is coming from the federal Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation and $15 million from the district. Though there have been no problems so far with the cost-cutting measures being implemented by the federal Department of Government Effeminacy (DOGE), Price has concerns. 'We do have worries,' he said. 'We have been very fortunate so far with the progress of payments.' Though the entire first-grade class will start the 2026-2027 school year in the new building, Price said a select group of second and third-graders will be there for fourth and fifth grade. There will be some classrooms for them. About 25% will have the choice. First priority will go to military families. 'This will mean less transition for them,' Price said in September. 'They get plenty of transitions when the families change stations.'
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Speaking their truth: LHS speech seniors ready to have the last word at state finals
Jennifer Anaya-Serrano recalled being too shy to ask to join the speech team when she was a freshman. The Logansport High School senior said she couldn't even talk to her teachers she was so afraid. With the support of her sister, she took the big step as a sophomore and joined the team. Saturday, she will compete in her third state finals and she said she had never felt as confident as she does now. Overall, Logansport advanced 17 students to the state finals. They will compete across 24 different categories. 'Seventeen is a lot of kids. Twenty-four is a lot of entries,' said coach Jessica Kranz, an English teacher at LHS, as the team practiced Tuesday afternoon. 'I feel that ups our chances of doing well and if nothing else it increases the energy heading in. It's huge energy.' 'I feel like everyone on the team is just bouncing off of each other,' Anaya-Serrano said. 'I feel like energies are high and our spirit is even higher.' When she joined speech, she said there were around 15 people on the team. That team would send eight members to the 2023 state finals and go on to finish in fifth place in the class AA team competition and 10th overall. In 2024, they sent 15 students and finished sixth. Anaya-Serrano said that confidence she was feeling for the 2025 state finals was based on experience. 'I feel like the coaches on the speech team do such a good job instilling a sense of confidence within you and it bounces off everyone,' she said. 'There are people here who support you in everything you do. You can't help but believe in yourself when you are here.' Those coaches include Kranz's mother Joyce Pasel, Chris Miller and Ashley Hayes. Together, they represent four generations of Berry speech. Pasel competed in the 1970s, Miller in the 1980s, Kranz in the 1990s and Hayes in the 2000s. 'We couldn't do what we do without all of us working together,' Kranz said. Anaya-Serrano will compete in the impromptu and domestic extemporaneous categories Saturday. Both events require on-the-spot thinking. She won't know her topics until it's time for her to compete and she has limited time to develop a speech. 'It all comes right back to the speaking skills that I've learned,' she said. 'It all leads back to that confidence. I have such an audacity now that I'm sure if my freshman self could see me now, it would be almost incomprehensible to her.' Aiden Snoeberger, a senior, has been one of the most reliable team members for Berry speech. He's the McCutcheon sectional champion in the radio broadcasting category and has two more recent first place finishes. Radio broadcasting is based entirely on vocal performance and has competitors recording a radio segment. It's Snoeberger's first time competing in radio broadcasting at state, but his second trip overall. Snoeberger credited his time in theater as helping him develop as a speech competitor. And being a member of the speech team has helped him round out his social skills. 'It's broken me out of my shell,' he said. 'I think it's made me a lot more outspoken. My event is really reliant on my voice and I think (performing) has helped me with my voice and made it stronger.' A four-year member of the team, Snoeberger said that public speaker wasn't his strong suit before joining. He started in the discussion category where he would have to debate other students at meets. He called the experience frightening. Despite the confidence he gained through theater, he said he worried about how he would do during the 2024-25 speech session. 'If it didn't happen this year, it would have been disappointing but I had so much fun with speech that whatever place I get really doesn't matter in the end. It's the memories that really count.' Senior Ared Ruiz, competing in humorous interpretation, said that he was approaching the state finals with the mindset to have fun. 'As long as I have fun it will be great,' he said. Ruiz recalled heartbreak last year when he and some of his speech team friends didn't qualify for state. 'This entire team just feels like family,' he said. 'We all bring this great vibe to the team. It's a pretty big group and having them altogether at state is really amazing. I'm really happy that we have achieved so much this year.' Alexa Sanchez-Agreda was practicing her informative speech about Henry the VIII and his wives, which was inspired by the hit Broadway musical 'Six.' 'I'm feeling excited but also anxious and sad at the same time because this is my last year,' she said afterwards. She joined speech as a junior and she loved every moment she had experienced on the team. She was inspired to join after seeing what the 2023 team accomplished. 'I was like 'wow, they are great,'' she said. 'I'm really sad I didn't join it sooner.' She was also excited to share the triumph of advancing to state with so many teammates. 'I feel a lot of us are close,' she said. 'It just means a lot because you get to see everyone succeed. You see them at sectionals make top six and you are like 'oh my gosh! We are all going to state together.' The team will compete at Fishers High School beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday morning. 'Our speech team has built a legacy of excellence,' said Principal Matt Jones. 'Under the leadership of Coach Mrs. Jessica Kranz and her dedicated staff, they continue to raise the bar year after year. We graduate outstanding speech students, yet a new wave of talent is always ready to step up. It's truly impressive.' 'This senior class is very awesome because they aren't necessarily the kids who you would think are your public speakers,' said Kranz. 'They aren't the kids who you would think are your public performers. They aren't your theatrical stage kids. These are your kids who had something they needed to say. They had a truth. They had a story. They had a presentation they needed to put out there. They are a different crew in all the best ways possible. And we are so proud of them.'
