McCall-Donnelly School District teacher and NASA astronaut Barbara Morgan hopes to take a banner with her on the space shuttle this summer to honor MD schools.
"I sincerely wish to continue to be known as a teacher from our district," Morgan wrote in a March 1 letter asking for another extension of her leave of absence..
"I look forward to sharing space flight with our students and staff!" her letter said.
The M-D board of trustees on Monday granted Morgan another year of leave for her to realize the space mission she has been training for since 1986.
Morgan formerly taught at McCall Elementary School and moved with her family to Houston in 1998 to train at NASAs Johnson Space Center.
Morgan became NASAs first educator astronaut after years of carrying the title of Teacher in Space. She is scheduled to fly on a mission to the International Space Station in late June.
When she moved to Houston, trustees granted Morgan a five year leave.
She was scheduled to fly on the space shuttle Columbia in November 2003, but her mission was postponed following the space shuttle Columbia disaster on Feb. 1, 2003, that killed seven crew members.
Morgan received a year's extension in 2003 and again in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
In 2005, Morgan forfeited the seniority that she would have maintained if she returns to teach at M-D.
Instead, she has assumed an honorary status that acknowledges her tie with the district.
Maintaining the link was important to Morgan. She previously said her leave was in the "national interest" in that it enhances the prestige of the teaching profession, inspires America's students, and creates more learning opportunities.
Her spaceflight would bring positive attention to the district, another connection with M-D gives her authority to speak publicly as a real teacher though employed by NASA, she said.
Morgan was named as the alternate to Teacher in Space Christa McAuliffe after a nationwide competition in 1985.
She accepted the post of Teacher in Space after McAuliffe was killed along with six other crew members on the space shuttle 'Challenger in January 1986.
For the next 12 years, she split her time between M-D and NASA, speaking at science and educationevents, until she moved to Houston to become a full-time astronaut.
