by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
When Robert Curbeam, Jr., was a student at Baltimore
=s Woodlawn High School, his family did not allow him to fall prey to the negative stereotypes and distractions so devastating to many young African Americans.By their high expectations and assuring that he received a strong education grounded in mathematics and the sciences, the Curbeam family helped their son develop a confident vision of his own potential. His family helped create a man who is now a national hero - a Naval Academy graduate, aeronautical engineer and experienced NASA astronaut who is currently in training to construct the international space station
Last Friday, during the dedication of a new Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy (SEMAA) at Morgan State University, Lt. Commander Robert Curbeam, Jr., spoke with eloquence about the importance of family and early education:
"These kids are our future. We must reach out and recruit them now, while they are young. We can give them heroes in addition to those who play sports - role models who excel at math and science."
The course of Lt. Commander Curbeam's life supports the compelling case for educational enrichment programs like our federal SEMAA initiative. Neither Senator Barbara Mikulski nor I could have better expressed the crucial importance of expanded, more-challenging instruction in science and mathematics for America's middle and high school students.
Millions of young people across America are being undervalued by the lowered expectations of their families and teachers. However, these children can also rise to almost any challenge and demonstrate their abilities - if we motivate and support them.
Through enriched educational programs such as our federal SEMAA initiative at Morgan State University, we can firmly establish our children's path to the stars.
The SEMAA vision originated with former Congressman Louis Stokes of Ohio and officials of the NASA Glen Research Center. They saw that equity and national self-interest are well-served by increasing the number of minority students working toward careers in the sciences, mathematics and engineering.
Last Friday, as we officially opened Morgan State
=s new high-tech Aeronautics Education Laboratory, I watched young people from Harlem Park Middle School begin to learn how to pilot an airplane across America. Their smiling, determined expressions confirmed what I had anticipated.All of the work that Senator Mikulski and I had done to obtain the $525,000 in federal funding required to create the Morgan State-NASA SEMAA had brought us a valuable opportunity.
Beginning with Baltimore City middle school students, this new partnership soon will provide high-technology learning experiences that raise expectations and academic capabilities throughout Baltimore's entire student population.
At the university level, Morgan State and NASA will be able to train and employ intelligent, well-educated young Americans who have high expectations of themselves, young women and men who can follow in Robert Curbeam
=s footsteps.This partnership will be "launching careers," NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin observed, "as well as launching rockets;" and America will become a stronger, more-inclusive nation as a result - one constructed more firmly upon the content of our character.
Some day, when the first American spacecraft heads outward from the international space station, I hope that an astronaut like Robert Curbeam remembers what we began at Morgan State in 1999. I hope that he turns to his crew mates, takes a small piece of paper from his pocket and recalls these words for them:
"Now that everyone has a place in our quest for the stars, the light of our better selves can guide our way. Together we will fly through the night, sisters and brothers in search of our starlight, and everyone will gain - however long our journey may take."
-The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings represents the 7th Congressional District of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives.