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AARP AARP States New Mexico

Fiesta Contest Takes Astronomy Teacher to the Skies

After years of helping students turn their gaze toward the skies, it is only fitting that Albuquerque resident Trish Logan got the chance to float among the clouds.

Logan was the winner of the AARP Balloon Fiesta Contest held leading up to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The contest was part of the AARP Block Party’s visit to Fiesta.

Trish 2 .jpg
Albuquerque's Trish Logan, right, prepares, to take flight with her sister, Mary Crosby, center, and AARP balloon pilot, Curt Godlesvsky.
Jen Judge

“It was a blast,” Logan said of her adventure. “It was so much fun, and it was my first time to fly. There was no nervousness. I had no idea really it was going to be so quiet and peaceful.”

“I had never thought about what the Balloon Fiesta looked like from the air. People looked like ants. They were so tiny, tiny. It was fun to take my little sister (Molly Crosby of Albuquerque) – and my little sister is 71. We felt safe the whole time. Our pilot was very careful,” she said.

It was Logan’s work among the sky that made her stand out among the contest entries.

At age 50, Logan decided she wanted to be a teacher. She started off in Lovington, NM, but later moved to Albuquerque.

In 2006, Logan was the science teacher at John Adams Middle School when she decided to enter an essay contest on how one would use a telescope to educate students. The Albuquerque Astronomy Society was giving six telescopes away to area teachers.

Logan won the contest and was awarded a telescope as long as she was teaching. She began teaching her students about the stars and planets and attending star parties at other schools for students and parents.

Later, after she retired from teaching, she became the director of education and outreach for the society and still today volunteers at star parties for schools. TAAS visits a different school each month during the school year.

“I love showing the kids and their families about the night skies. You can see Jupiter with the naked eye – it just looks like a big star but with the telescope you can see it. If you look through the telescope, you can see four of its moons. Another very exciting sight is Saturn and its rings,” Logan said.

“For the students to put their hands on a telescope and find it for themselves – that is just so cool,” she said. “I love to be the one to teach them.”

In addition to doing Star Parties for the kids, the Society also does them for the general public going out to wide-open spaces like the Oak Flats campground in Tijeras.

“That is what I do for volunteering. I will always keep doing this as long as somebody wants me to. They say once a teacher always a teacher,” Logan said.

Volunteering must run in Logan’s blood as it turns out she is the daughter of long-time AARP volunteer Peggy Parker, who died in 2003. Parker worked many years for KOAT Action 7 news and handled communications for AARP New Mexico well before there was a state office. She was a passionate advocate for AARP and the people of New Mexico.

Logan’s balloon ride, taken in the AARP sponsored balloon piloted by Curt Godlevsky, took about an hour. They landed in a yard not too far away from Balloon Fiesta Park with the property owners even coming out to help.

She received a certificate, some champagne and pastries and the Balloonist Prayer was said.

“It was wonderful. We left feeling so enlivened and enriched. It was delicious,” Logan said.

Now after teaching so many people about the sky and the stars, Logan can tell her students what it’s like to travel among them.

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