ABC News:
In late April, the 16-year-old central Florida honor student was accused of igniting a chemical explosion on school grounds, leading to her arrest and suspension from school, but authorities dropped criminal charges last week... While school officials debate whether Kiera will return to Bartow High School, the Wilmot family received an unexpected surprise. The explosion struck a chord with 18-year NASA veteran Homer Hickam, a former lead astronaut training manager for Spacelab, and later for the International Space Station... "I couldn't let this go without doing something," Hickam said. "I'm not a lawyer, but I could give her something that would encourage her. I've worked closely with the U.S. Space Academy, and so I purchased a scholarship for her." ... Learning of her twin sister, Hickam raised enough money so Kiera and Kayla could attend space camp together. Hickam runs several scholarships for kids with potential, and hopes to create an ongoing Space Academy scholarship. The twins will attend in July.
 |
| Image from the CBS Filmation Saturday morning series Space Academy of my late 70s childhood. |
You know, there was another case like this 4 or 5 years ago,
ReplyDeleteinvolving a young (white) man named Jack Robison, who became
interested in explosives (his knowledge of chemistry is
apparently a good deal more sophisticated than simply being
curious about what happens when you mix toilet-bowl cleaner
and aluminum), and documented his experiments on YouTube.
http://www.masslive.com/localbuzz/index.ssf/2009/06/actionreaction_how_one_teens_c.html
Apparently, in Mr. Robison's case, the circumstances were
complicated by the fact that the young man in question
is on the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum.
His father, who also claims to be on the spectrum, has
recently published a book about his son entitled
_Raising Cubby: A Father and Son's Adventures with Asperger's,
Trains, Tractors, and High Explosives_
http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Cubby-Adventures-Aspergers-Explosives/dp/0307884848
There was also an article about him in the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/26/us/navigating-love-and-autism.html
which is where I first heard of him, and both he and his
girlfriend (from the Times article) have participated in a series
of YouTube videos called "Autism Talk TV" on Alex Plank's
Wrong Planet channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/theWrongPlanet