NASA educator visits Flathead County Library to inspire next generation of scientists

Eager kids excited to learn more about space and rockets packed into a meeting room at the Flathead County Library in Kalispell on Friday to hear from a NASA educator who works with the agency’s Launch Services Program.  

“This rocket stands 322 feet high. That's really big, but how big is it? If you've ever seen a football field before, if you were to lay down that new rocket on a football field, it would take up almost the entire thing from one end to the other,” NASA educator Jarrod Bales said to “oohs and ahhs” from attendees.  

Bales is an education and outreach specialist in the Launch Services Program at NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He was invited to speak as part of Flathead County Library’s Summer Experience, an annual series of programs that includes reading goals and activities for children and teens.  

It was a packed room with some patrons overflowing into the hallway outside of the meeting room. Bales travels across the country to “prepare NASA’s future workforce,” engaging people of all ages to learn more about current missions and drum up excitement for STEM, according to NASA’s website.  

After his presentation on the latest and most exciting projects at NASA, Bales fielded questions from audience members including from one youngster who wanted to know why the sun is a star if it’s shaped like a circle. He also gave out stickers and puzzles and held an activity upstairs in the children’s area where kids built their own rockets.  

He said because NASA is a federal agency, it’s for the citizens of this country. So, it’s important to make educational trips to demonstrate not only to children, but to adults as well, that their tax dollars are going toward something positive and impactful. 

“I want to get people excited about it because there are many unique things going on. I think, us as humans, there's this curiosity for wanting to know what is out there to explore,” Bales said. “We need this next generation to be able to continue to do the things that we are doing. Sometimes it's a presentation to a second grader and you said something that got them excited for the rest of their life.”  

Mother of three Elina Lamberts said she brings her kids to the library frequently and brought them to the NASA program to help learn about rockets and rocket launches. 

“I think for kids, it's just amazing how big things are, when you compare something to eight football fields or talk about the many, many months of being out in space,” Lamberts said.  

It was one of the library’s busiest Summer Experience programs, even rivaling opening day, according to library staff. Library Director Teri Dugan said this time of year is a fun time for staff, who enjoy offering these types of programs to the community.  

In addition to the NASA program, the library held a pool story time (where kids gather for story time at a public pool,) built coral reefs with pool noodles and had an accompanying ocean-themed story time. They’ve also had a snack and smoothie making activity where kids learn some basic cooking skills, as well as other exploratory activities and traditional story time programs.  

She said when it comes to programs for the community, the library is only limited by space.  

"A few patrons have said that we need a bigger library ... So this just shows that yes, the community wants these kinds of programs, and we want to be able to offer them. So, we’d love in the future to have a place to do so,” Dugan said.  

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com. 

    Kids cut out a template for a NASA straw rocket after a presentation by Jarrod Bales from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at ImagineIF Library in Kalispell on Friday, July 26. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider