Astronaut

Chapter Thirteen: A Lesson on NASA

Getting out the door and into the car that is sitting idling outside with Agents Hill, Greer and O'Donnell occupying it, Caroline, John, June, and Harvey all sit beside each other in the backseats, Jack and Lee hand Rachel and LJ to Clint and Kenny who are sitting at the front of the car with William at the wheel again. Saying goodbye to the six children and the three Secret Servicemen, Jack and Lee get in Jack's car and drive off to the White House; meanwhile, on the ride to school and kindergarten, the older three get dropped off first and then their three younger siblings get dropped off afterwards. Each of the children gets agents assigned to them, so Clint and Kenny are to be keeping an eye on Caroline, John and Harvey and William is to keep an eye on June, Rachel and LJ. William pulls up at the elementary school with Clint and Kenny in the passenger seat and Caroline, Harvey and John in the backseats. The three children get out of the car and go over to the entrance of the building to wait on the two agents once William's found a parking space; returning to the kids, Clint and Kenny follow behind Caroline, Harvey and John as they make their way towards the main corridor of the school. Caroline says goodbye to her younger brothers before heading off to find her classroom and her fourth-grade classmates with Clint in tow, leaving Kenny with Harvey and John. Walking down the corridor with the boys on either side of him, Kenny finds John's first-grade classroom and leads the two of them over to the room, once getting John settled and acquainted with his teacher and classmates, Kenny and Harvey say goodbye to him and make their way along the corridor to Miss Jones's classroom. Entering the room, Harvey bids Miss Jones good morning before heading over to his desk in between his friends and exchanging pleasantries between them, he doesn't take notice of Kenny taking up his post at the back of the class as always.

"Good morning everyone! I hope you're all doing well. Let's start by saying the pledge," she turns to Harvey and asks:

"Harvey, would you like to start us off?"

"Okay."

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God..." he recites whilst standing with his right hand placed over his heart. Everyone else starts joining in and afterwards, they all take a seat and the first lesson can begin. Miss Jones stands at the front of the class and begins to deliver her first lesson of the day:

"Okay, guys, our first lesson today is a very special one," she watches as the twelve youngsters look ahead in wonderment. "Today, we're all going to learn about NASA!"

"Yes!" Harvey exclaims excitedly

"I knew you would like this, Harvey," Miss Jones says with a smile. "So, who can tell me something about NASA?" Almost immediately, Harvey and James's hands shoot up

"James?"

"The acronym "NASA" stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration,"

"Wow! That's fascinating. Yes, Harvey?"

"The first project for NASA was called Project Mercury,"

"Oh, that's interesting! Thanks for sharing that, Harvey." Miss Jones then writes some information on the blackboard about NASA for the students to copy, and then asks them all to get out their notepads and pencils to write the information down; Harvey gets a pencil and his A5 notepad from his bag and begins to write the following:

NASA Facts

1. The word NASA stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

2. Project Mercury was the first project for NASA.

3. NASA was created in 1958.

The class go through a range of topics on NASA until Miss Jones informs her students that it's time for recess, in which Harvey sprints off to be with Julia, Iain and James and leaves Kenny behind him. Upon returning from recess fifteen minutes later, Miss Jones directs the class onto their next lesson which is literacy; the literacy lesson takes the class up to lunchtime, Harvey walks alongside Kenny in the direction of the canteen. Getting inside, he feels his anxiety building up again but he powers through it, gets his lunch and goes over to sit with his friends but before he sits himself down at the long table with Julia, Iain and James, he just so happens to see his brother and sister with their classmates; going over to them and Clint, he asks them if they want to sit with him, his friends and Kenny which they accept and go over to join their brother and his small group of friends. When lunch is over and everyone goes back to their classrooms, Harvey follows Kenny back to Miss Jones's classroom with Julia, Iain and James beside him; entering the room, they return to their seats and wait for Miss Jones to arrive. Once Miss Jones re-enters the class, she begins to tell her students what their next subject is going to be, which is maths; she then starts to write down some simple addition sums on the board: