4-20-2023 4:20am

PT. 2: "FLYING HIGH" WAS HIS

Jeff Barto Editor

THE 1993 DULANEY HIGH GRADUATE LEADING NASA’S NEXT MOON MISSION REMAINS CONNECTED TO THE SCHOOL

FUTURE PLANS: FLY HIGH

When astronaut Reid Wiseman was a senior at Dulaney High School, the caption under his yearbook photo began with the words “FUTURE PLANS: Fly high.”

He first achieved that goal in 2014, when he spent more than five months on the International Space Station conducting experiments and spacewalks. He will achieve it again late next year when he serves as the commander of NASA’s Artemis II, the first crewed spacecraft to travel to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Stephen Shaw, a physics and astronomy teacher and science department chair at Dulaney High, says he thinks of Wiseman as “the Neil Armstrong for our generation.”

Shaw, science department chair at Dulaney High, thinks of Wiseman as “the Neil Armstrong for our generation.”

Wiseman's senior photo from Dulaney High yearbook

Wiseman speaking at Dulaney High in 2015

TAKING DULANEY HIGH TO SPACE

Shaw’s first year of teaching at Dulaney, which was also his first year of teaching, was Wiseman’s senior year. “I knew his name and taught a number of students who were friends with him,” says Shaw, “but I didn’t know him.”

Imagine Shaw’s surprise then, in early 2014, when Wiseman contacted him and asked if Shaw would be his liaison to Dulaney High during his tenure on the International Space Station. “At that point, I had become the science department chair,” Shaw explains. “NASA asked me to fill out some forms, and Reid gave me his email address so I could contact him on the space station and his cell phone number.”

“Before liftoff in May, he and I were in contact,” Shaw says. “He answered questions my students submitted, and he recorded some audio for our morning news team, including saying the pledge.”

To celebrate liftoff in May 2014, Dulaney High hosted a party with special guests including the county executive, retired astronaut Don Thomas (head of the Willard Hackerman Academy of Mathematics and Science at Towson University), and lots of local news coverage.

The 2014 launch party at Dulaney High

The AP Physics students (aka "Mission Control") who hosted the 2014 launch Party with Astronaut Don Thomas (far right) who helped explain what was going on

Celebrating the 2014 International Space Station launch

“When I came home from the first day of school in fall 2014, the caller ID on my phone said that the U.S. government was calling,” Shaw continues. “When I answered, it was Reid, calling from the Space Station just to say hello. He was so busy on the Space Station, but he always had time for us. Those five months were a joy! He sent us pictures from space of where he grew up and the Loch Raven Reservoir area. He made some videos for us. It was magnificent.”

“(Wiseman) was so busy on the Space Station, but he always had time for us.” – Stephen Shaw, science department chair, Dulaney High

A year later, in 2015, Wiseman was back in Baltimore County, and Dulaney High School gave him a hero’s welcome.

AP Physics students in 2015 with Wiseman (center.) A student painted the NASA symbol on the sidewalk.

“My students put together a series of events, including a dinner, and the presentation of Dulaney High’s first distinguished alumni award,” says Shaw. “I asked Reid if there were any of his former teachers he wanted to come to the assembly. The first one he mentioned was Dale McPherson, who used to teach Russian at Dulaney. Reid studied Russian at Dulaney and was a member of the Russian Club. He credits that with being able to do what he did on the International Space Station where some of the directions were in Russian, and he had to speak Russian. He also mentioned his former social studies teacher, Joyce Lehmer, as influential. More than 2,000 students came to see him receive the distinguished alumni honor. Afterward, he had a press conference with our journalism students. He couldn’t give enough of his time.”

AN ENDURING RELATIONSHIP

According to Shaw, he and Wiseman have remained in touch and visited with each other whenever Wiseman came to the area. “My children still remember Reid coming over the house back in 2015 after he had been on the space station,” says Shaw. “Imagine having an astronaut in your house as a kid?!?”

Shaw and Wiseman and 2 of Shaw's 4 children at a 2017Memorial Day 2017 ceremony. One son, Alex, is a 2022 Dulaney. The other, Ben, will be a freshman in the fall.

“We’ve been in touch more lately since the news has been out about Artemis II,” Shaw adds. “Reid says all the media attention has just been chaos. I’ve seen him at the NCAA championship games and on ‘The Late Show with Steven Colbert.’ My students came back from spring break so excited about the news.”

“Our community has enjoyed an incredible amount of excitement thanks to him,” Shaw continues. “I mention often to my students that Reid went to the schools that they attended – Warren Elementary School, Cockeysville Middle School, and Dulaney High School – and they could live out a really awesome dream just like him.”

“I mention often to my students that Reid went to the schools that they attended – Warren Elementary School, Cockeysville Middle School, and Dulaney High School – and they could live out a really awesome dream just like him.” – Stephen Shaw, science department chair, Dulaney High

Shaw and his students are looking forward to a launch and watch party next year when Dulaney grad Wiseman heads to the moon.