As you enter biology teacher Lisa Cochrum’s room, your eyes are overwhelmed with to the hundreds of photos plastered on the walls. The photos show her travels around the world as well as past students. Cochrum’s desk is littered with various knick-nacks: stuffed animals, toys and even a taxidermied fish.    

Among all of her other interesting objects, according to Cochrum, her most prized possession in the room is a picture of her and astronaut Michael Massimino taken after he spoke at the school in 2014.

“He’s very funny and personable,” said Cochrum. “He used that to try to make space science very accessible to the general public. He went on ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ he’s been on science shows, he's willing to come to a highschool and talk to kids which is a phenomenal way to use his skill set.”   

Along with the picture, Massimino wrote Cochrum a note saying, “To Lisa — with best wishes from the crew of Atlantis STS-125.” Atlantis STS-125 was the fifth space shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in which Massimino took part in.      

“I respect the science that he has studied I respect the fact that he took his degree and applied it in a new direction with NASA,” said Cochrum. “It is exciting to me that you could major in something other than aerospace and end up working at NASA.”