jews in the d

Bank of America 2019
Student Leaders Program

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A VIDEO.

Astronaut
Aspirations

Teen starts space club,
joins national programs,
follows her passion.

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

W

hile some kids spend their
summers at camp with oars
in the water, Rebecca Blum
of Bloomfield Hills spent hers with her
mind on the cosmos.
Rebecca, a junior at Cranbrook
Kingswood Upper School in
Bloomfield Hills, possesses a passion
for space exploration and hopes one
day to research how space and micro
gravity affect the human body.
She spent the last five summers
at the United States Space Camp in
Huntsville, Ala., and brought what she
learned to school, where she also start-
ed the Beyond Earth space club.
These efforts won her recognition
as one of 25 high school students in
the nation to be recognized as Student
Ambassador Group 1, the first class of
students in the Back to Space ambassa-
dor program.
In mid-October, Rebecca attended a
gala at the Frontiers of Flight Museum
in Dallas, timed with the 50th anniver-
sary of the historic Apollo 7 mission.
There, she met Apollo 15 Command
Module Pilot Al Worden, Apollo 16
Lunar Module Pilot Charlie Duke and
Andrew Aldrin, son of Apollo 11 astro-
naut Buzz Aldrin.
Back to Space is a nonprofit orga-
nization founded by Danielle Roosa,
granddaughter of Apollo 14 astronaut
Stuart Roosa. It strives to preserve the
legacy of the Apollo astronauts, and
to prepare and inspire high school
students to focus on the future of
STEM education (Science, Technology,
Engineering and math) and the future
of U.S. space exploration efforts.

BEGINNING INTEREST
Rebecca first gained her zeal for space

24

December 6 • 2018

jn

“I know there are risks in space
exploration, but if it is the one thing I want
to do with my life, I’d take the risk.”

— REBECCA BLUM

through stargazing outings with her
grandfather Jon Blum of Farmington
Hills. She would spend many nights
with him peering through his telescope
and meeting other amateur astrono-
mers. During the 2017 solar eclipse,
Blum went on a family trip with her
grandfather to see the total eclipse in
Oregon.
“My granddaughter has been looking
through my telescope since she was 2,”
Jon Blum said to an audience of astron-
omers before Rebecca gave a talk last
July about her experiences at the
Kennedy Space Center. “At age 7, she

TOP: Rebecca Blum with Apollo 16 Lunar
Module Pilot Charlie Duke and his wife, Dottie,
at a gala event in mid-October for the Back to
Space program. ABOVE: Blum at U.S. Space
Camp in 2014 on the Multi-Axis trainer

drew a picture of herself as an astronaut
on the moon because she did not like
the news that no woman had yet visited
the moon. Now, she has her sights even
farther, perhaps she will be the first
woman on Mars.”
Rebecca is the daughter of Steve and

Stephanie Blum. She has a younger
brother, Ryan, 14. They belong to the
Birmingham Temple in Farmington
Hills, where Rebecca participates in the
post-b’nai mitzvah program.
“I think many kids have the passion
to hone their STEM skills to fuel the
next wave of space exploration,” said
Rebecca, 16, who also, with help from
her science teachers, created a blueprint
for replicating the Beyond Earth club,
which has started at schools in five
other states.
She also helps run a space enrich-
ment program at an elementary school
to inspire interest in space.
As a junior, she planned her high
school transcript to carry advanced
placement science classes. She hopes
to pursue a career in biology that
researches the emerging field of space
medicine to examine how space affects
humans and diseases such as cancer
and how new medications developed in
micro gravities can be used on Earth to
treat these diseases.
This spring, Rebecca plans to attend
PoSSUM Space Academy at Embry-
Riddle Aeronautical University.
“It is important for humans to con-
tinue their natural curiosity about
space and explore what is out there.
Exploring space is something I have
wanted to do my entire life, and I have
a great desire to become an astronaut.,”
she said.
“I know there are risks in space
exploration, but if it is the one thing
I want to do with my life, I’d take the
risk. I’m not too worried.” ■

Bank of America announced the
opening of the enrollment period for
its 2019 Student Leaders program.
The Student Leaders program is part
of Bank of America’s ongoing com-
mitment to recognize youth who lead
and serve in their own communities
and beyond, connecting young people
with the tools and resources that will
help them make communities better.
The program annually awards paid
internships to high school juniors and
seniors at a local nonprofit organiza-
tion and participation in a national
leadership summit in Washington,
D.C.
The application process for the
2019 Student Leaders program is open
until Feb. 1, 2019. High school juniors
and seniors in Wayne, Oakland and
Macomb Counties are eligible to apply
online at www.bankofamerica.com/
studentleaders. ■

Farber Hebrew Day
School Receives Grant

Farber Hebrew Day School - Yeshivat
Akiva has received a $1.3 million
multi-year grant from the William
Davidson Foundation, the second
grant from the foundation in support
of Farber HDS’s academic achieve-
ment. The first grant was a multi-year
grant in the amount of $2.25 million
awarded in 2015.
“The William Davidson Foundation
made its determination to award a
second grant after extensive study of
our programming and operations and
consideration of the role Farber HDS
plays in the Detroit Jewish communi-
ty,” said Rabbi Scot A. Berman, head
of school. “The William Davidson
Foundation has again demonstrated
its commitment to Jewish education
generally and specifically its support
of Farber HDS’s mission to provide an
institution of educational excellence
that is firmly committed to Modern
Orthodoxy here in Michigan. We are
grateful.”
The grant supports educational
support services, professional devel-
opment, educational technology and
curriculum development.
“Jewish Detroit is elevated by a
vibrant Modern Orthodox commu-
nity, and the presence of a premier
Modern Orthodox day school in
Detroit is critical to attracting and
retaining our growing Modern
Orthodox population from other
cities and states,” said Gil Feldman,
Farber board president. ■