Jenny Burke from Genesis Auckland made a visit to Te Mata School to inform STEM teacher Penny Chatfield that she had won a national competition with a trip to Houston Space centre as the prize.
Te Mata School "super teacher" Penny Chatfield had never won anything.
until Thursday when, at a special assembly at the school, she discovered she had won a trip to infinity and beyond.
Chatfield's not off to space, yet, but she is now preparing for a voyage to the next bestthing, the Houston Space Centre, to take part in the Space Exploration Educators Conference next year.
The experienced science, technology, engineering and maths teacher has been at the Te Mata School for 15 years.
She was nominated by parents for the prize, run through Genesis' school-gen programme.
"I have never won anything before, so this is pretty exciting.
"I am extremely grateful to the parents who nominated me, to the school and Genesis.
Jenny Burke, Auckland, Genesis school gen manager (left) talks to Te Mata School science teacher Penny Chatfield after the announcement that Chatfield has won a trip to Houston. Photo / Warren Buckland
Principal Mike Bain had been amazing, she said.
"My husband teaches at the school and so he has released him so he can travel with me if he wants."
Chatfield will be one of two teachers from New Zealand headed to the conference in February.
The Space Centre in Houston, the conference venue, is the home of Nasa's famous mission control centre.
The eyes of the world were on it on July 20, 1969, as Neil Armstrong reported from the lunar surface, "Houston, the Eagle has landed".
It's also Nasa's astronaut training base and is Houston's top attraction for international visitors.
Chatfield will experience a three-day learning adventure at the centre, picking up a new set of education resources and activities that use space as the context for learning across the curriculum.
