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A Smile as Big as the Moon: A Special Education Teacher, His Class, and Their Inspiring Journey Through U.S. Space Camp
Contributor(s): Kersjes, Mike (Author), Layden, Joe (With)

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ISBN: 0312303149     ISBN-13: 9780312303143
Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
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Binding Type: Paperback - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: February 2003
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Annotation: Special education teacher Mike decided to take his class to NASAUs Space Camp. There was one problem--convincing administrators and parents that with disabilities like Tourettes, Down syndrome, and dyslexia, the kids could succeed in a program for gifted students. Kersjes' story is one of determination and perseverance, of empowerment and empathy.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Education | Special Education - General
- Education | Teaching Methods & Materials - General
- Biography & Autobiography | Science & Technology
Dewey: 371.904
LCCN: 2001048779
Physical Information: 0.8" H x 5.6" W x 8.4" L (0.75 lbs) 288 pages
Features: Price on Product
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

Besides being a football coach at his Michigan High School, Mike Kersjes taught special education classes, dealing with children whose disabilities included Tourette syndrome, Downs Syndrome, dyslexia, eating disorders and a variety of emotional problems.

One autumn Kersjes got the outlandish idea that his students would benefit from going to Space Camp, where, in conjunction with NASA, high school students compete in a variety of activities similar to those experienced by astronauts in training for space shuttle missions. There was only one problem: this program had been specifically designed for gifted and talented students, the best and the brightest from America's most privileged high schools.

Kersjes believed that, given a chance, his kids could do as well as anybody, and with remarkable persistence broke down one barrier after another, from his own principal's office to the inner sanctum of NASA, until Space Camp opened its doors, on an experimental basis, to special ed students. After nine months of rigorous preparation, during which the class molded itself into a working team, they arrived at Space Camp, where they turned in a performance so startling, so surprising, that it will leave the reader breathless. A truly triumphant story of the power of the human spirit.


Contributor Bio(s): Kersjes, Mike: -

Mike Kersjes is president of Space Is Special Inc., a not for profit organization that helps special education students enhance their science and mathematics skills using space as a motivational theme. He has been a special education teacher and football coach for more than twenty years with the Forest Hills Public School system and is currently working with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the University of California, Irvine. The film rights for his book have been sold to Jerry Bruckheimer for Walt Disney Pictures. Kersjes lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Layden, Joe: -

JOE LAYDEN is an award-winning journalist and freelance writer whose work has been honored by the New York Newspaper Publishers Association, the National Associated Press Sports Editors, the New York State Associated Press Association, and the International Reading Association/Children's Book Council.
Mr. Layden has written or co-written more than thirty books for adults and children, including The Last Great Fight and The Ghost Horse.


 
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