First Black to walk in space visits Baton Rouge
On June 26, Dr. Bernard Harris, CEO of the National Math + Science Initiative (NMSI), visited Baton Rouge to kick off NMSI’s Laying the Foundation Teacher training at Woodlawn High School. With ongoing support from ExxonMobil, the popular training program was recently expanded to an additional 400 teachers across the state, doubling the number of teachers from last year. In addition to his role at NMSI, Dr. Harris is the founder of The Harris Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports math and science education programs for America’s youth. Harris worked at NASA for 10 years, where he conducted research in musculoskeletal physiology and disuse osteoporosis. During his career at NASA, Harris became the first Black person to walk in space. A veteran astronaut for more than 18 years, he has logged more than 438 hours and traveled more than 7.2 million miles in space.
Dr. Bernard Harris New Orleans artist, Lionel Milton, at Kuttin’ Kornerz Barbershop stand in front of a space-themed mural in North Baton Rouge.
While in town, Dr. Harris joined ExxonMobil for a tour of the local community. He interacted with North Baton Rouge students at Summer STEM Lab, a BREC summer camp designed to curb effects of summer learning loss and to increase interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics topics and careers. Campers were inspired by Harris to realize their potential through problem solving skills learned in STEM courses.
Following the camp visit, he autographed a space-themed wall mural painted by New Orleans artist, Lionel Milton, at Kuttin’ Kornerz Barbershop. He wrapped up his tour of Baton Rouge at Knock Knock Children’s Museum where he participated in space related pop-up activities with museum guests.
Jozef Syndicate 