The Presidential Award was a catalyst for my being selected for the NASA Teacher in Space Project in 1985 as Hawaii's representative. The tragic accident of the space shuttle Challenger catalyzed my now 34-year journey in honoring the crew and its educational mission which has involved over 300,000 students, teachers, and parents through school and community presentations, camps, workshops, robotics, and industry and community sponsors and partners.

Arthur Kimura Honolulu, HI | 7-12, Science, 1983

Arthur “Art” Kimura has been an educator for 48 years including 12 years as a biology teacher, nine years as an aerospace teacher, five years as a school administrator, and 22 years as an education specialist with the Hawaii Space Grant Consortium, University of Hawaii. With a focus on hands-on, real world experiences for students, Art created an off-campus science course in which students worked at the zoo, the aquarium, the humane society, and a hospital. Selected in 1985 as the Hawaii state representative to the NASA Teacher in Space Project. The tragic Challenger space shuttle accident resulted in his directing a summer space camp for 25 years with 9,000 participants, overseeing 14 years of statewide space conferences, directing two astronaut recognition days for 20,000 attendees, and providing school programs on Space: the Ultimate Field Trip for over 150,000 students and teachers. Art also introduced scholastic competition robotics in Hawaii including FIRST, Botball, and VEX robotics which has grown from an initial two teams to now over 700 teams in nine different programs in Hawaii. He participated in the Japan Super Science Fair for eight years, and sponsored teachers to attend NSTA Conferences, NASA summer institutes, and Japan Innovation Tours. Art received his B.A. in zoology and M.Ed. in science education from the University of Hawaii. He served on active duty for five years in the US Air Force and then 23 years in the Hawaii Air Guard, retiring as a Lt. Colonel. He received the 1983 Presidential Award while teaching at McKinley High School; the Phi Beta Kappa; the Biology Teacher of the Year Award; the Civil Air Patrol Crown Circle Award; the Air Force Association Christa McAuliffe Award; and the Living Treasures of Hawaii designation.

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