The Northampton County Education Foundation (NCEF) sponsored a screening of the movie “Hidden Figures” on March 24 at the Cape Charles Palace Theater. The free showing gave nearly 225 Northampton middle school students an opportunity to see how black women contributed to the success of early NASA space programs.
The movie is based on Margot Lee Shetterly’s book “Hidden Figures: The Story of the African-American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race” and focuses on three brilliant African-American women at NASA in 1962 when Ohioan John Glenn was preparing to become the first human to orbit Earth. Glenn, according to the stories, refused to launch until he knew mathematician Katherine Johnson, one of the three, had calculated the flight trajectories for Project Mercury.
Maxine Rasmussen, Chair of the Northampton County Education Foundation stated, “The Foundation Board was pleased to provide the students the opportunity to experience this story of three women who persisted single-mindedly in pursuing excellence despite many obstacles and challenges. We hope that the students will find inspiration from this moving depiction of high achieving African American women.”
The Northampton County Education Foundation envisions an environment where businesses, social organizations, parents and government entities continuously engage in efforts to ensure excellence in teaching and student learning in Northampton County Public Schools. Please visit our website, ncedufoundation.com to learn how you can make a contribution to this effort.
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It seems “unseemly” for the Foundation to continually utilize the Mirror as a fundraising vehicle. I have no problem with its mission, but using local newspapers for fundraising should be available to all charities if open to one .