I never had the opportunity to meet Christa McAuliffe. In 1985, when Christa was going through the selection and training processes to become the first teacher in space, my wife and I were in our first year of marriage. Our oldest child wouldn’t be born until the summer of the following year, so we were not yet engaged with Concord’s school system or familiar with its teachers.
Still, we became caught up in the city’s excitement as one of our own competed with more than 11,000 teachers from across the U.S. to become the first teacher in space. Like the rest of Concord, we tracked Christa’s progress and celebrated when she was chosen to ride the Challenger and teach from Earth’s orbit.
In retrospect, I’m struck by how the entire Teacher in Space Program, in what now seems a simpler time, honored the role that teachers play in society — guiding and shaping and encouraging, as they do, the citizens of the future. With her springy gait and broad smile, Christa seemed to personify an optimistic, can-do attitude that was infectious. She represented what was best in teaching as well as what was and is best in Concord itself — forward-thinking and brave.
At the time of the Challenger launch, I was working for New Hampshire’s House of Representatives, and on launch day I joined other House staff in front of the TV in the Speaker’s State House office, eager to see history made.
We were stunned and stricken at the mission’s catastrophic failure, looking at each other slack-faced and asking, “What just happened?” Later, in Monitor photos, we saw that same look on the faces of Christa’s stunned students at Concord High.
In the days that followed, the city’s residents came together to support each other and mourn, and the community closed ranks around the McAuliffe family, honoring their desire to grieve in private. This was when I first appreciated the character of the city in which I lived.
The shock of loss was tangible and collective. We are a small city, and it was impossible not to know someone whose life had touched Christa McAuliffe’s. Even for someone like me, who had arrived in Concord just a few years before.
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that people were kinder and more considerate of each other. Our emotions were tender and at the surface and we made allowances for our neighbors. We were protective of each other as Concord briefly became the epicenter of a national and international news frenzy.
As we look back on this anniversary, I hope we remind ourselves that our best moments as a city are when we are forward-thinking and brave. When we show concern for each other. When we dedicate ourselves to the future we create for the next generation. And when we remember that within our community, there are always those with the aspiration and potential to blaze new trails.
Byron Champlin is the mayor of Concord, currently serving his second term.