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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. Ray Smith

Pat Smith has earned recognition on the National Aviation and Space Exploration Wall of Honor for her amazing career as an aerospace educator. Pat attended the Oklahoma Aerospace Academy at Oklahoma University in 1994. While there, she was inspired to build an aerospace program for children in NE Oklahoma. She felt all children would benefit from the excitement and challenges of space education in a public school setting. First, she enlisted help from the community to begin her endeavor. With the help of many local businesses and her school district, Broken Arrow Public Schools, she began retrofitting a dilapidated, 1978 Dodge Avco into a space shuttle simulator. She then applied for and received the Christa McAuliffe Fellowship for Oklahoma in 1995 and again in 1998. With the funding from the Christa McAuliffe Fellowships, she added computers, warning lights, science experiments, satellite building materials, EVA suits, headsets, and power so the astronauts could talk to each other onboard and the media "on the ground". She wrote scripts to fit different grade-levels of students and created problems for them to solve within these scripts. Her missions stimulate imaginations and challenge the young astronauts to find logical, successful solutions to prelaunch or orbital problems. In the 8 years the space shuttle simulator has been in operation, over 22,000 Oklahoma children ages 4-86 have become astronauts for a little while. Pat also continued her vision to include summer space camps, Tulsa Air & Space Museum programs, scouts, church groups, and various evening events. Her program is named the Broken Arrow Space Experience, BASE. Interest in astronomy, science, math, and technology has increased dramatically in students of the Broken Arrow area the last few years, due to this unique program.
Pat Smith assisted Dr. Jeffery Goldstein's team in designing The Journey Through the Universe Program. This program allows research scientists to travel all over the U.S. visiting classrooms, teaching educator workshops, and hosting Family Science Nights. She piloted the Journey Program from Washington D.C. in Broken Arrow and Tulsa. Since then, this program has traveled to communities from upstate Maine to mid-state California, serving over 96,000 children, families, and teachers. The children and adults have been able to ask tough, science questions and get answers. This program has truly changed the outlook of entire communities.