Rep. Allen visits Challenger center

BANGOR – U.S. Rep. Tom Allen was in town Friday morning visiting the Challenger Learning Center for the first time, and later stopped at the University of Maine to reacquaint himself with its programs.

Although the trip took the Democratic 1st District congressman beyond his district, he said he wanted to stay up to date on all state issues, especially education.

“I do travel,” Allen said with a chuckle. When asked if his trip was an attempt to increase visibility for a possible 2008 run for the Senate, Allen replied, “There is no announcement yet,” but he indicated one could be made very soon.

Allen was invited by the Challenger board and staff to visit the center, since he and the other members of Maine’s congressional delegation helped secure a federal appropriation of $750,000 to purchase flight simulators and educational programming.

The Challenger Learning Center, located near the University College Bangor campus, provides simulated space exploration missions to get students excited about math and science. Classes from around the region visit the center for half a school day to live the life of an astronaut.

“A major effort needs to be made in this state as a whole in science and math,” Allen said to a small crowd of Challenger board and staff members. “We don’t have enough mathematicians or engineers, and when you look at those students at the university, they are usually foreign.”

Three years after receiving the initial federal funds, the center now is asking for an additional $450,000 for professional development of teachers, said Annette Brickley, Challenger director.

As the congressman experienced a simulated space shuttle liftoff, he smiled as the roar shook the room.

The start of classes at the Samuel L. Wagner Middle School in Winterport was delayed Friday because of the snowstorm, so no pupils were present during Allen’s visit. But the congressman said he could speculate on the typical class’s excitement.

“I can just imagine the middle school kids in here and the way their eyes would widen by these sounds,” Allen said.

The Challenger Learning Center does a great job of attracting schools within a 100-mile radius of the facility, while also drawing pupils from northern Maine, but few classrooms from the southern part of the state participate in the program, Brickley said. After experiencing all the center has to offer, Allen said he would try to promote the facility to teachers and principals in southern Maine.

“Now that I am here, I think it’s absolutely amazing,” Allen said. “It’s clear to me at this time we need to invest more heavily in exciting our children to learn about math and science.”