John Sammons (TAS 2005) Celebrates STEM & M Night at Greenbrier Intermediate School

Greenbrier Intermediate School held its third PTA Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Muscles Night on October 16, 2014, in Chesapeake, Virginia. The STEM event featured community presenters from local, regional and state organizations, including NOAA ENS (Ensign) Roxanne Carter from the NOAA Marine Operations CenterAtlantic in Norfolk, VA. The community exercised their minds with interactive STEM activities and their muscles with fitness activities in the school gym. STEM was organized by NOAA Teacher at Sea John C. Sammons, Greenbrier’s technology integration specialist. 
 
NOAA Corps ENS Carter shared information about the NOAA Corps and work at the NOAA Marine Operations Center. She then demonstrated how to don, put on, an immersion suit. An immersion suit is used in case of an emergency aboard NOAA vessels, and it is critical to know how to quickly don the suit. Immersion suits allow a person to be in the water for up to 72 hours depending on the water temperature. Students who stopped by the NOAA Corps station were challenged to don the immersion suit in under two minutes while experiencing simulated emergency conditions like an alarm, wind noises, rocking ship, etc. 

A child is sitting on the floor wearing an immersion suit.
Christofer Howcott-White donning an immersion suit; Photo courtesy of John Sammons