{"id":232929,"date":"2017-08-06T09:33:22","date_gmt":"2017-08-06T13:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/uncategorized\/topeka-childrens-imaginations-take-flight-at-the-exploration-mars-space-camp-topeka-capital-journal.php"},"modified":"2017-08-06T09:33:22","modified_gmt":"2017-08-06T13:33:22","slug":"topeka-childrens-imaginations-take-flight-at-the-exploration-mars-space-camp-topeka-capital-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/space-travel\/topeka-childrens-imaginations-take-flight-at-the-exploration-mars-space-camp-topeka-capital-journal.php","title":{"rendered":"Topeka children&#8217;s imaginations take flight at the Exploration Mars Space Camp &#8211; Topeka Capital Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><p>    The open-mouthed wow factor that space travel creates was    brought to children in East Topeka this week as part of a Space    Camp that included meeting NASA professional Herb Baker and    former NFL football player Joe Mays.  <\/p>\n<p>    Kia McClain, a Topekan chosen last year to be a social media    influencer for NASAs Mars journey, reached out to the    Neighborhood Opportunity for Wellness program to bring the    space event to the Highland Park neighborhoods.  <\/p>\n<p>    More than 100 kids showed up from the NOW initiative    neighborhoods at Deer Creek, Pine Ridge Manor and Echo Ridge    when the camp started this week, McClain said.  <\/p>\n<p>    (My favorite part of camp) has been trying on the space outfit    from the astronaut that came out, camper LaDaysha Baird said.    I like to dress up.  <\/p>\n<p>    The camp was supported by multiple agencies, McClain said,    including United Way of Greater Topeka. In her work with NASA,    McClain reached out to Baker, who retired from NASA after 42    years working in operation support, most often at the Johnson    Space Center.  <\/p>\n<p>    For Baker, it was a joy to share his love of NASA and space.  <\/p>\n<p>    My whole life almost has been involved with NASA, he said,    explaining that even before pursuing a career there, he went to    middle school near Johnson and his friends had parents who went    to space. His friends who were astronauts talk about the first    time they were intrigued by the idea of becoming astronauts.  <\/p>\n<p>    There might be one kid here who gets to put that spacesuit on    and it changes their lives, Baker said. Thats kind of what    Im hoping for.  <\/p>\n<p>    A real NASA spacesuit and the opportunity to try it on was just    one of many events that occurred during the five-day evening    camp.  <\/p>\n<p>    For McClain, a social media expert, the camp gave her the    chance to share her own excitement about her NASA connection    with children, and she did so by reaching out to numerous    partners. Two of those were Joe and Toiya Mays who own the Laya    Center in Kansas City, Mo., a holistic spa that has been    working with THA around community gardens and aquaponics.  <\/p>\n<p>    One of the kids favorite events was when Toiya Mays showed    them how knowledge of natural health can be used to create    medicines and foods, McClain said. For instance, the kids were    able to learn about making a natural cough medicine by putting    elderberries in 90-proof alcohol or making natural Hawaiian    Punch using hibiscus flowers.  <\/p>\n<p>    Joe Mays shared about the rigorous training and healthy eating    necessary to playing in the NFL, and how that same type of    fitness would be important for astronauts, McClain said.  <\/p>\n<p>    The children were wonderful little sponges that were open to    not only learning how technology relates to healthcare, but    were intrigued by a healthier way of life, Toiya Mays said.    We explained the importance of maintaining good eating habits    and how eating fruits and veggies is a direct link to energy in    a holistic way. They had fun showing us their Pucker Faces    during the lime &energy test where we showed a video of the    actual electricity currents that come from a Key lime.  <\/p>\n<p>    The Mays also helped set up a hibernation chamber simulator,    where they created a small nook blocked off by cardboard and    cooled by a portable cryotherapy machine the Laya Center uses.  <\/p>\n<p>    This cooled the room and made it similar to what astronauts    would experience during a 4-8 month trip to Mars, Toiya Mays    said. It was a huge hit!  <\/p>\n<p>    Although the official space camp portion of the event is over,    McClain is working with the NOW program, United Way and THA to    continue events weekly throughout the year.  <\/p>\n<p>    Its the kick-off to major opportunities involving NASA,    involving all of these partners that are at the table and just    creating future opportunities for the children to go far beyond    Topeka, McClain said.  <\/p>\n<p>    Online editor J.C. Reeves contributed to this report.  <\/p>\n<p><!-- Auto Generated --><\/p>\n<p>See the article here:<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/cjonline.com\/news\/business\/local\/2017-08-04\/topeka-children-s-imaginations-take-flight-exploration-mars-space\" title=\"Topeka children's imaginations take flight at the Exploration Mars Space Camp - Topeka Capital Journal\">Topeka children's imaginations take flight at the Exploration Mars Space Camp - Topeka Capital Journal<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> The open-mouthed wow factor that space travel creates was brought to children in East Topeka this week as part of a Space Camp that included meeting NASA professional Herb Baker and former NFL football player Joe Mays. Kia McClain, a Topekan chosen last year to be a social media influencer for NASAs Mars journey, reached out to the Neighborhood Opportunity for Wellness program to bring the space event to the Highland Park neighborhoods.  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/space-travel\/topeka-childrens-imaginations-take-flight-at-the-exploration-mars-space-camp-topeka-capital-journal.php\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[431650],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-232929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-space-travel"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232929"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232929\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}