Lower School students learn about Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman in space

In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, which is celebrated from September 15 to October 15, students are learning about Hispanic culture, history and the contributions of notable Hispanic Americans in the United States and around the world. In Jennifer Simons’ Lower School Spanish classes, the girls learned that heritage is something that one believes, thinks, or does that comes from one’s family or ethnic background. It can be a characteristic of their cultural tradition or something handed down from one’s ancestors or the past. The girls each shared a bit of their backgrounds and then examined the life of Ellen Ochoa, a Mexican-American and the first Hispanic woman in space. She is an astronaut, musician, engineer and inventor. The girls looked at several books and videos about Ellen Ochoa including a reading of “The Astronaut with a Song for the Stars” by Julia Finley Mosca. 

When asked what made Ellen unstoppable, the girls said the following: 
- She never gives up
- She always believed she could 
- Her teacher said girls can’t be engineers but she said I’m going to prove you wrong! 
- She was strong and never gave up.