Pinay is the center of the universe for this NASA astronaut

NASA astronaut Edward Lu is the first American to launch and land mission in a Russian Soyuz aircraft. He is also the first American astronaut to venture into space after the explosion of the shuttle Columbia in 2003. That was a disaster which may have given other space cadets second thoughts about flying into space.

Last month, Lu married Christine Hernaez Romero in Maui, Hawaii. Christine was born in Manila, studied in Houston and earned a degree in Communications Management and an MBA from the University of Austin, Texas. She is the daughter of Ralph Romero and the former Maria Fe Hernaez, professor and historian from Bacolod City, now residents of Houston.

Lu was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for being the first American astronaut to launch and land mission in a Russian Soyuz aircraft. The two-man crew stayed in the space outpost for six months in 2003. Selected by NASA in 1964, Lu flew as a mission specialist on STS-84 in 1997 and was payload commander on STS-106 in 2000. He was also the first American astronaut to go on a space flight since the explosion of the shuttle Columbia in February 2003, killing seven astronauts.

He earned his Ph.D in Applied Physics from Stanford University. During his debriefing event at Space Center, Houston, Lu shared stories and spectacular images from his stay aboard the International Space Station.

Christine and Ed were engaged shortly before Ed flew on his space mission in 2003. They met during another astronaut’s wedding in Peru. The couple will reside in Houston, Texas where Ed works as research physicist in the field of Astrophysics.

Not a Bridge too far

The Bridge School, now on its fourth year, opened with eight students in BF Parañaque. Today, it has 40.

This is perhaps because at The Bridge School, the main thrust and focus is a child’s active learning.

"The children’s ideas are of value and therefore our curriculum is based on their interests and questions," says Katrina del Rosario, a recent graduate in Child Development from Mills College in California, and the newest addition to the school’s teaching staff.

"Children learn through play," continues Katrina. "As teachers, we support and guide them through their inquiries, explorations and interaction. A child’s work is play. Play is a ‘safe place’ where they can take the initiative and recreate familiar happenings in their emotional and social life. It is how they build understanding of the world."

Michelle Tabuena Filart, one of the first teachers at The Bridge, holds a masters degree in early education from Ateneo. She explains, "Children learn by doing. Therefore we encourage free exploration and play, using an abundant supply of open-ended materials. We believe that children need large blocks of time to play.

"Positive self esteem and self confidence are direct outcomes of pre-school play, simply because it is the one thing that children are always successful in."

"Why do red and blue make purple? How do plants grow? How many feet do caterpillars have? And why must they have so many?" These are questions that pre-schoolers ask their teachers.

"Children are good observers," adds Michelle. "They notice everything. They absorb everything. Instead of being quick to explain everything to the children and lecture them, at The Bridge we give them the opportunity to develop their knowledge. We give them time to observe, to discuss what they see, and offer their hypotheses of what, how and why. We watch and listen as they discuss among themselves and we guide them to their new discoveries. These discoveries they make on their own and will remember for a long time."

At The Bridge, class sizes are kept small. With the steady growth of enrollees, more sections have been formed to assure that the teacher to student ratio is kept at an ideal of approximately one to seven. In the younger classes, it is about one to five.

Denise Tabuena Lumbad, a Psychology major from De La Salle University, says, "Children initiate learning. Their inborn curiosity is the basic raw material we work with.

"After looking at new plants in our garden, the four-year olds wanted to know how plants grow ‘big and pretty.’ We showed them a book of plants and they began to ‘read’ the pictures. Each of them started to imagine-out-loud what they actually thought happened to the plants. Soon they were planting their own seeds and, in wonder, watched them grow."

Teachers Sheila Sarmiento, from Assumption College; Diane Quisumbing, DLSU; Bernadette Rubin, Assumption Bacolod; Gina Rivera, Ateneo; and Ana Galeon, DLSU, look forward to the start of classes on June 16. "We have a group of children from last school year, now a little older and almost ready for ‘the big time.’ And then we have the new little ones. We anticipate another exciting and fruitful year."

The Bridge teachers use emotionally supportive language so that the children begin to see them as people who care for them, as adults they can trust. They encourage the children to express themselves and to communicate their thoughts.

"There are no wrong answers," says Teresa Tabuena del Rosario, founder of The Bridge School. "We listen to what the children say and we put value in each response. This is where we work closely with parents, family members and yayas. We need their support at home.

"Parents who come to look us over, have one question in common. ‘Will our children really be ready for the ‘big school’ after The Bridge?’

"With confidence and conviction, this is our answer: Yes, definitely! Readier that you can ever imagine!"

(For inquiries, call 826-5777.)