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At the time, some people compared the frozen-in-time feeling they experienced that day to the moment they heard President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Today, many also conjure the shock of watching the World Trade Center towers fall in 2001. But nearly everyone who was of school age or older in 1986 vividly remembers the day when the space shuttle Challenger burst into flames just 73 seconds after takeoff, claiming the lives of all seven astronauts aboard鈥攊ncluding Christa McAuliffe, who was to be the first teacher in space.

Friday, Jan. 28, marks the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster. Around the country, teachers鈥攕ome of them classroom veterans, others too young to recall those terrible moments鈥攚ill describe the day鈥檚 historical significance to their students. And schools, universities, and space-focused education organizations will commemorate Ms. McAuliffe and her fellow crew members with both large-scale events and small tributes.

鈥� At the Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Fla., the site of the Challenger launch, the Astronauts Memorial Foundation will gather as many as 1,000 people for a ceremony in honor of the crew.

鈥� The , one of 48 educational hubs of the Alexandria, Va.-based nonprofit , will host a live national webcast connecting students with astronauts.

鈥� The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will hold a at Arlington National Cemetery on Jan. 27 for all the astronauts who have died in service.

鈥� At Concord High School in New Hampshire, where Ms. McAuliffe taught, a group of 40 or so teachers from the 1986 staff will convene for a reunion. Retired teacher Susan Capano, who organized the potluck gathering, said she鈥檚 looking forward to seeing her old colleagues, with whom she shared the elation leading up to the launch鈥攁nd then the ensuing shock and grief.

And at that bears Ms. McAuliffe鈥檚 name, students will carry out the teacher-astronaut鈥檚 legacy by completing sophisticated space-research projects.

Touching the Future

The 8th graders at the 250-student McAuliffe Regional Charter Public Middle School, in Framingham, Mass., have been investigating current space themes鈥攕uch as new designs for spacesuits, ionized propulsion, and the climate on Venus鈥攂y working with experts in the field. The students visited labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in nearby Cambridge, Skyped with researchers in Japan, and interviewed meteor specialists at NASA to delve into their topics.

鈥淭his is research they鈥檙e doing now on space,鈥� Dan Anderson, the 10th-year teacher who created and is leading the projects, said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not old research being redone. These are things you can鈥檛 find information on in books.鈥�

This Friday, to honor the educator whose name their school bears, the students will present their research at the , where Ms. McAuliffe received her bachelor鈥檚 degree.

The projects are a tribute on several levels to Ms. McAuliffe, who famously said, 鈥淚 touch the future, I teach.鈥� Ms. McAuliffe鈥檚 goal as an educator 鈥渨as to get kids interested in the space program, because she had been a fan of the space program ever since it started,鈥� Ms. Capano, her former colleague, said. 鈥淪he wanted to see kids fascinated by space.鈥�

Ms. McAuliffe was also a proponent of hands-on, experiential learning鈥攖he kind Mr. Anderson鈥檚 class is engaging in. As a social studies teacher at Concord High, Ms. McAuliffe 鈥渞eally did not want students to skim over the surface of history,鈥� said Mary Liscombe, the director of the Christa McAuliffe Center, which provides curriculum resources and professional-development programs for mathematics and science teachers and is part of the .

鈥淭here鈥檚 a parallel I see between Christa and what Dan is doing to engage kids to learn more deeply about a subject matter and not just have them read a book and take a test,鈥� added Ms. Liscombe, who also attended college at Framingham State with Ms. McAuliffe.

Elevating the Profession

In remembering Ms. McAuliffe, many educators highlight her abiding dedication to the teaching profession.

Ms. Capano recalled that, when Ms. McAuliffe was selected in July 1985 to be the first teacher in space, she promptly began a full schedule of NASA training and speaking tours. But on the first day of school at Concord High that fall, Ms. McAuliffe was back on campus.

鈥淪he had told her handlers in Houston to fly her back to New Hampshire,鈥� Ms. Capano said, 鈥渟o they sent her back for a couple of days.鈥� Ms. McAuliffe was both devoted and 鈥済utsy,鈥� she added.

Dennis Van Roekel, the president of the National Education Association, remembered that throughout the media blitz before the shuttle launch, Ms. McAuliffe, an NEA member, held true to her roots as a teacher. 鈥淪he spoke to audiences from the viewpoint of a teacher who taught kids,鈥� he said.

Barbara Morgan, the Boise, Idaho, teacher who had been selected as Ms. McAuliffe鈥檚 backup and also trained with the Challenger astronauts, said that even on the day before the launch, Ms. McAuliffe sat in the crew quarters writing college recommendations for her students.

Ms. McAuliffe was also a charismatic speaker. 鈥淣o matter the size of the audience, she had them in the palm of her hand,鈥� said Mr. Van Roekel.

Indeed, Ms. McAuliffe鈥檚 engaging and confident personality is believed to have helped NASA overcome initial skepticism about the teacher-in-space program, which some educators viewed as a gimmick to bolster support for the space agency. As the nation鈥檚 enthusiasm for the flight grew, teachers came to see Ms. McAuliffe as a symbol of prestige and honor for all her classroom colleagues.

鈥淪he was held up as someone who could elevate the profession, which she did so well,鈥� Mr. Van Roekel said.

鈥淧eople took interest in the teaching profession,鈥� Ms. Liscombe said. 鈥淭he focus of the nation was on that mission and on that flight.鈥�

Ms. Morgan, who in 2007 became the first teacher to complete a space mission, added: 鈥淐hrista served as a great reminder to everybody that the key to education is good teachers, and that we had and have good teachers all over this country.鈥�

For NASA, Ms. McAuliffe helped boost the importance of efforts in education, said Ann Marie Trotta, a spokeswoman for the agency. While education has been part of NASA鈥檚 mission since the agency鈥檚 beginning, said Ms. Trotta, Ms. McAuliffe gave it a public face, and the education program has since expanded.

Mr. Van Roekel, a former high school math teacher, also believes that Ms. McAuliffe played a significant role in opening doors in math and science education for women. 鈥淲hen you think of the time, that鈥檚 when we really started real efforts to knock down stereotypes that math and science were for boys and not girls,鈥� the union president said.

Carrying on the Mission

The loss of the Challenger crew could have quashed the teacher-in-space concept, along with educators鈥� heightened enthusiasm for space exploration, some observers suggest. It did put NASA鈥檚 program on hold for more than a decade. But many space education organizations have sprung up since the accident鈥攏otably the network of Challenger Learning Centers, where 400,000 students each year participate in simulated flight missions.

Dan Barstow, the president of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, which oversees the regional learning centers, said the programs are meeting national and state education standards, but 鈥渕ore importantly, are exciting kids about learning and exploring,鈥� which he believes would have made Ms. McAuliffe 鈥渆xceptionally proud.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 a generation of teachers who were around and teaching at the time of the Challenger accident. For us, clearly, she was such an exceptional teacher, such an inspiring astronaut and educator. We still remember her and feel that,鈥� said Mr. Barstow. 鈥淚t was such a deep-searing moment in the nation鈥檚 soul, and we have an obligation to carry on that mission, that legacy, to inspire kids.鈥�