January 28, 1986

It seemed just another January morning. A regular school day at a little rural California town. Winter. Cold enough to wear my green and gold school jacket proudly proclaiming my "panther pride", but not so cold that the chilly air was intolerable. My destination - the school office.

My mom was the school secretary. Her office was a place that was comfortable to me. Other kids viewed it with a mixture of horror and fascination. You only went there if you were sick or in trouble. BIG trouble. Mr. Crider, our principal, didn't play around, didn't mince words, and didn't tolerate misbehaving. His school was run by his rules. I had often witnessed the toughest bullies leave his office with tears streaming down their faces simply because Mr. Crider had a little "talk" with them.

My brother and I were very much at ease walking up to my mom's desk and searching for new treasure. Candies, confiscated toys, perhaps a new stapler. As we rustled through her workspace the usual flurry of teacher activity swirled around. Quite common were misplaced lesson plans, new substitute teachers locating their classrooms on the school map, and and last minute copies being made before the first bell.

Something was very much different about this day.

There was a tension in the air that my immature mind could not quite grasp. As I stepped inside, a group of teachers was huddled around the television haphazardly set up in the corner. Tears were welling in Ms. Goto's eyes. My mother was quietly sobbing, while one white haired teacher whose name I don't remember kept saying, "O, God. No. Please God, no."

As I moved closer my eyes were fixed on the unusual image on the screen. Little did I know that the odd shaped cloud of smoke was once the space shuttle Challenger. I knew the Challenger. We had been told often about the monumental moment when school teacher Christa McAuliffe would make all her fellow instructors proud by being the first of their noble profession to soar into orbit.

I stood transfixed. Moments later, as they replayed the heart wrenching moment, as much as my young mind could grasp of the situation hit me. I started to cry, not exactly sure why. Perhaps it was the reaction of those around me. Maybe I really understood what happened.

All I knew was that it was something I would never forget.