Pair thrilled with Morgan's flight

Sandpoint residents John Wall and Serve Wilson will have more than a passing interest in today's scheduled takeoff of the space shuttle.

They formed the hiring committee that launched Barbara Morgan's teaching career in Idaho back in the mid 1970s.

Wilson was the superintendent of schools in McCall and Wall was the principal at McCall's Donnelly Elementary. Wall remembers Morgan showed up at the interview with a puppy.

"We hired a little bit differently back then," said Wall. "It was immediately obvious she had what it took to be a great teacher. And she was and still is."

Wall watched as Morgan's passion for teaching took over the whole school.

"She was one of the hardest working teachers I worked with," he said. "She was always at the school and when she wasn't, she was at home working on school projects."

Morgan was interested in space and submitted an application to NASA in 1985 to become a "teacher in space."

On her application she wrote: "I want to go on the space shuttle; I want to get some stardust."

She was accepted and became Christa McAuliffe's backup on the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger mission.

Morgan trained with McAuliffe and was at the Kennedy Space Center when an explosion, 73 seconds into the launch, killed McAuliffe and the six other members of the crew.

Wall had been at the space center for about a week as Morgan's guest but after Challenger's first takeoff was postponed, he knew he had better get back to Idaho and back to work.

He was at school watching the Challenger liftoff on live TV in the elementary school's cafeteria and library which were packed with students.

"It was devastating to us all," Wall said.

Donnelly Elementary students were intimately involved with all aspects of Morgan's training. Up to the launch she was working parttime as a teacher.

It wasn't uncommon for astronauts to talk with students or for teachers and students to be briefed on what was happening at NASA.

Immediately after the accident, the media descended on the school and many parents took their children home.

Morgan called the school after the accident to check in.

She quickly returned to teaching, saying it was important "that our kids see adults in a bad situation and they don't give up, that they work hard to figure out what the heck went wrong. What are we going to do about it, how we can fix it," she said in a recent interview.

More than two decades have passed and Morgan has become a full-fledged astronaut, much more than a teacher in space.

Her responsibilities as a mission specialist will be to operate the robotic arm that will help transfer 5,000 pounds of supplies from the shuttle to the International Space Station.

Wall, who retired last spring as the Kootenai Elementary principal, has kept in contact with Morgan through letters and an occasional rendezvous in McCall.

Wilson moved from McCall to Alaska shortly after hiring Morgan but has also kept in touch. Wilson retired from education in 1999 as the superintendent of schools in Kamiah. He was the assistant superintendent of schools in Sandpoint from 1993-96.

Wilson and his wife, Barbara, moved back to Sandpoint in late 1999.

Wall and Wilson both received invitations to today's launch from NASA, courtesy of Morgan. Unfortunately, both said they will have to watch the launch from the comfort of their own homes.

"I'll try to watch it," Wall said. " I just want everything to go smoothly."

Wilson said he will be thinking of Morgan's infectious smile and tremendous rapport with children as he watches.

"She's so down to earth," Wall said.

That's quite a compliment for someone who has spent most of her life aiming for the stars.

David Keyes is publisher of the Daily Bee.