I did some part-time work last year in an after-school program for Hispanic kids from poor neighborhoods. They were disinclined to think anything related to school could be fun, but after we had contests to create the best paper airplanes and designed tin-can phones, they started to come around. A couple of them were very bright, but a few hours a week for one school year isn’t enough to make them into budding scientists or engineers if there isn’t more reinforcement along the way.

The worst part, though, was that not one of the kids had any idea about NASA. I know when I was their age, I was dying to go to SpaceCamp. And I think it’s even more sad because Purdue University, “cradle of astronauts” as they like to call themselves, is right here in the community.