64 January/February 2015 Hagerstown magazine

Bester Elementary School’s Homecoming showcased the hopes,dreams, and possibilities of committing to your goals.

by Keith Fanjoy

GROWTHthe

issueeducation & workforce development

Bringing Together A Neighborhood

Close to 900 people passed throughthe doors of Bester ElementarySchool on Nov. 13 for a unique

elementary school event with a home-coming theme to celebrate a building,and renewed hope for their neighbor-hood. Children, families, and commu-nity stakeholders alike enjoyed a freedinner together, followed by a diverseprogram of speakers and special guests,as well as a video montage with voicesof the children of the school describingtheir hopes and dreams not only fortheir lives but also for their community. Members of the community were

greeted outside Bester under a ballooncanopy of green and white set to asoundtrack provided by South Hager-stown High School Jazz Ensemble. In-side, Washington Redskins cheerleadersand the Hagerstown Suns mascotWoolie greeted visitors as they exploredthe newly transformed cafeteria and

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gym. Guests were escorted down a redcarpet to festively decorated tableswhere they were served a spaghetti din-ner by an army of volunteers. Afterguests ate, they mingledwith their neighbors andschoolmates and enjoyed ac-tivities such as face paintingand balloon animals.After the frenzy of serving

meals to over 700 people inone hour, a formal programcelebrating the past, present,and future of Bester beganand Principal Kristi Bachtellwelcomed the crowd to theircommunity’s new school.An opening video wasplayed, taking audiencemembers on a tour of thebuilding that displayed allthe new resources availableto the children and familiesof Bester — including atechnology lab with a com-bined 300 iPads and Mac-Books, a cutting edge sciencelab, intervention rooms, andmusic spaces, just to name a few. Following the video, Kristi introduced

Bester volunteer Sgt. First Class PaulFlemings — who recently retired — toshare his thoughts regarding his ongo-ing involvement at the old and newschools. After an ovation from thecrowd to acknowledge his service to thiscountry, Paul commended the crowd forparticipating in the event and told eachchild about the value of education.Hagerstown native Christian Binford,

a pitcher for the Kansas City Royals or-ganization who prepped at MercersburgAcademy before hitting the big time,followed Paul at the podium. “Wow, I

wish I had an iPad at school when I wasgoing,” he smiled when describing theopportunities available to the students.He explained that not long ago he playedColt League, Pony League and FederalLittle League — all in the Hagerstownarea — on his way to success, and thathe wasn’t able to achieve his goals with-out adversity or a little help. Everyone in attendance received a

raffle ticket to win a chance at themeddoor prizes, including a special raffle

just for Bester students in attendance.Redskins cheerleaders Annie and Leeread off the prizes, which included anextra hour of tech time, one extra encore

class, and a special lunch for astudent and two friends withPrincipal Bachtell. Many of the themes

woven throughout the cele-bration included instillingthe hope to believe yourdreams are possible, perse-vering through difficult cir-cumstances, and ultimatelyachieving success. There wasno better representation ofthose ideals than the keynotespeaker, retired NASA As-tronaut Don Thomas, a vet-eran of four missions tospace. His story was excitingbecause of his unique experi-ences in space, but it was in-spiring because of what ittook for him to get there.Don described coming

from humble beginnings inCleveland, Ohio, and experi-

encing the family challenges of hismother working as a secretary to providefor their family. A self-described averagestudent, Don committed to workinghard in high school and graduated withalmost straight As. He continued tobuild on that work ethic, and obtained abachelor’s degree in physics from CaseWestern Reserve, and a master of sci-ence and a doctorate in materials sci-ence from Cornell University. Not badfor an average student! But he had a

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long way to go to accomplish his dreamof becoming an astronaut.

Don described the painful process ofapplying to NASA to be an astronaut andbeing rejected with littleconsideration on two differ-ent occasions. He chose towork harder and tried tofind ways to become a morecompetitive applicant by en-hancing his skills. He de-scribed teaching collegecourses and obtaining hispilot’s license, which got theattention of NASA who in-vited him to Houston,Texas, after screening thou-sands of applicants down to100. After an exhaustivetesting process, Don leftconfident that his time hadfinally come. But, again, he was told“thanks for your application; we wish youthe best of luck in your future endeavors.”For the first time, Don considered quit-ting, but the next morning he woke upand decided, “I still want to be an astro-naut.” So what to do now?

Don saw that many of those whowere able to successfully become astro-nauts had been promoted through theNASA system, so he quit his great jobat AT&T Bell Laboratories in Prince-ton, N.J., and moved to Texas to workwith Lockheed Martin who was work-ing with NASA. Three years went by,and for a fourth time he applied to be aNASA astronaut. Again, he wentthrough an exhaustive testing process.This time he got the call, “Don, we’dlike to know if you are still interested inbeing an astronaut.” Finally arriving athis lifelong dream, Don began a year-long process of preparing to become anastronaut. But just when everything was

finally coming together, he felt a lumpon his throat and went to check it outwith the doctor. That’s when he foundout he had thyroid cancer.

Don had two thoughts: “Am I goingto die? Does this mean I can’t go intospace?” Fortunately, just like all theother hurdles, he was able to receive thenecessary treatment, and became cancerfree. Don continued his training and ul-timately completed the hero’s journey,achieving space travel on many occa-sions. The power of Don’s story was notthat he made it to space — no matterhow awe inspiring and incredible thatend goal became — it was his refusal togive up, and his never-ending commit-ment to the idea that his dreams werepossible. The crowd gave a big ovationto acknowledge Don’s speech, and hishope was that the community that sur-rounds Bester could adapt these samelessons to their dreams.

Closing the program, it was time forthe real stars — the students of BesterElementary. In a video presentation, stu-dents talked about what they wanted todo when they grow up, what they hoped

for in their community, and ultimatelywhat they could do about it. In coordi-nation with their art teacher Ms. Dowelland STEM Teacher Kevin Sandell, the

students of Bester helped towrite these thoughts onleaves, and they were as-sembled on a large artisticrepresentation of a treewhich represented the seedsof hope living within thehearts and minds of theyouth in the school.

Many students talkedabout their future careergoals, including Damir whosaid, “When I grow up Iwant to be an astronaut andsee all the planets and themoon and walk on themoon.” He came to the

right event! Alexis explained her hopefor her neighborhood was, “No crimeanywhere so people can feel safe to comeout of their homes and know they aresafe.” And Andre summed up his desireswith, “My hope for my community is foreveryone to try their best and for every-one to achieve their goals.”

After the program, the school wasopen to the community for tours, andthe next day a ceremonial tree plantingwas held in the school courtyard withseveral students to signify the long-terminvestment and partnership from thecommunity in helping them to achievetheir hopes and dreams.

More than 80 volunteers, teachers,and staff helped to turn this idea into areality. Casey Family Programs was thelead sponsor for the event, but numer-ous community businesses and agenciescontributed to this effort includingWashington County Public Schools andSan Mar Children’s Home.

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