BLOOMFIELD SCHOOLS TO PAY CHRISTA MCAULIFFE TRIBUTE

BLOOMFIELD -- When students in Bloomfield public schools present "A "Musical Tribute to Christa" Thursday night, they will be finishing up a yearlong project to keep her memory alive. They also will learn more about her life from a visit with her mother, Grace Corrigan.

She will speak to the students Thursday morning and again that night. The free concert and tribute begin at 7 p.m. at the high school gym. The community is invited.

Christa McAuliffe was chosen as the first teacher to fly aboard the space shuttle Challenger. The shuttle exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. This year marks the 10th anniversary of that explosion.

Corrigan works to keep her daughter's memory alive, so she was invited to attend the program in Bloomfield, said Sheila Perry, technology coordinator for Bloomfield schools.

The tribute includes "You're Gonna Hear From Me," a song McAuliffe used to sing with her father and a commercial for Corrigan's book, "A Journal for Christa."

Most of the songs are patriotic songs performed in Christa's memory since the students thought she was a true American, Perry said.

The musical show grew out of a state technology grant titled, "Christa, this one's for you and the Challenger crew."

Perry wrote the $50,000 grant for the Bloomfield School District to help keep McAuliffe's memory alive. To do this, the students set up a special computer lab, named in her honor, where they sent out e-mail notes asking people around the world to remember the 10th anniversary of the Challenger explosion.

Little did they know that more than 230,000 people would stop to remember the Massachusetts teacher. Corrigan, McAuliffe's mother, saw the Internet message and responded.