Astronaut inspires SV staff
CRANBERRY TWP — Seneca Valley blasted off into the new school year with a surprise special guest speaker.
Retired astronaut Nicole Stott gave a keynote speech to about 800 Seneca Valley staff at the All-Staff Welcome Back event Wednesday morning. The school year for students will start Tuesday.
Tracy Vitale, school superintendent, greeted teachers and staff wearing an authentic NASA flight jacket before she introduced Stott to the crowd.
“I want you to be inspired by those who have reached for the stars and touched them,” she said.
Stott is the veteran of two space flights — one in 2009 when she was in space for about 90 days and her last in 2011 as part of the final mission for the space shuttle Discovery. She also holds the women's world record for the longest saturation dive of 18 days.
“Inspiration, that's what I'm here to talk about today,” Stott said. “It is what all of you do every day in your lives with children in your classrooms.”
Stott explained her training and experiences as an astronaut, and throughout highlighted the importance of teachers and mentors who inspired her, who opened her eyes to new experiences and pushed her to reach for her goals.
She said sometimes students just need a nudge and a mentor's belief in them to get them to pick up that pen and apply, like she did when she applied to be an astronaut.
Stott, who started working at NASA as an operations engineer at the Kennedy Space Center, also spoke about how the various professional backgrounds and interests of her crew and those around her enhanced her experience with NASA. The other astronauts in her training group were doctors, engineers and test pilots.
“It all comes down to the people you experience things with,” she said.
Stott was brought in thanks to funding from the Seneca Valley Foundation and the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau.
