Wyndham Tech School (WTS) educator Sam Nikolsky has been launched past the stratosphere after he received a scholarship to lead four lucky secondary students from Australia to an international space camp in the United States to represent Team Australia in Alabama in July.
With a background in industrial design, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching, he has brought more than 12,000 secondary school students and 1000 teachers from schools
across Melbourne’s west to WTS at Victoria University’s Werribee campus over the past two years to experience some of its hands-on projects.
Mr Nikolsky learned about the Astronaut Al Worden Endeavour Scholarship program while researching career and training opportunities for local students at the recent Avalon Airshow.
Daughter of former US president John F. Kennedy and American Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy presented Mr Nikolsky with a bomber jacket at the Avalon Air Show Sam was presented with a bomber jacket at the Avalon Air Show by the American Ambassador to Australia as part of his scholarship.
As part of the program, Mr Nikolsky would participate in the Space Academy for Educators program, involving authentic astronaut training simulators and activities developed to promote learning in a classroom setting.
He said the space camp would be an amazing opportunity to collaborate with high-achieving students and educators from all over the world while taking part in real-world challenges and learning experiences.
“I am excited to take part in the Space Camp Educator Program, to learn from experts on project-based learning and STEM pedagogies, and to bring these back to WTS,” he said.
During the camp, Team Australia would collaborate with other carefully selected teams from France, Bahrain, and the United States.
Matthew Sims
