International Space Camp Team Canada Biographies, cont'd

International Space Camp Team Canada Biographies, cont'd

ISC Team Canada CDR and teacher
Benjamin Jewiss during a simulated EVA at
Advanced Space Academy for Educators, 2013

Name: Benjamin Jewiss

ISC Team Canada Position: "Commander" (which is to say, "chaperone")

Education: OSSD/OAC, Huntsville High School, 2002; BA (Honours History) WLU, 2006; BEd, NipissingU, 2007; numerous additional qualifications through Ontario College of Teachers

Hometown: Nakina ON Canada, transplanted from Huntsville ON

Favourite Astronaut: Hybrid mashup of Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell and Pete Conrad

Favourite Space Quote: "We choose to go to the Moon! ... We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard..." 

                                                                                                      -- John F. Kennedy

Husband, brother, son; educator, learner, dreamer: ISC Team Canada CDR and Greentone-area teacher Benjamin Jewiss is a man of many parts.  Growing up in rural Ontario (which stood in for adventures on far away planents, distant lands and eons of time), he dreamed of exploring "strange new worlds." A keen sense of duty and responsibility, not to mention adventure, led him on his path as an educator on a different, more terrestrial frontier in the Canadian North where he met his true love and best friend Melanie.  Moving to the small village of Nakina (part of the municipality of Greenstone) in northwestern Ontario, Benjamin (along with now-wife Melanie and erstwhile canine companions Farley and Dexter) quickly became a respected, if somewhat eccentric, member of the community.  Known to some as the "Rocket Man" due to annual model rocket launches on New Year's and Canada Day as well as extracurricular rocketry clubs, Benjamin is also the 2nd Vice President and Poppy Committee Chairman of the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, a tenured teacher of Ojibwe Language and Culture and just about everything else at St. Brigid Catholic School and the Training Officer and Deputy Commanding Officer of the area's Royal Canadian Air Cadet squadron with the rank of Lieutenant.  He has attended Space Camp for Educators programs twice before, once in 2012, along with teachers from elsewhere in Ontario as well as Australia and the United States, and again in 2013 as the sole Canadian (in fact, sole non-American) member of the invitation only Advanced Space Academy for Educators.  Benjamin has been working for years to make the dream of sharing the life-changing experience of Space Camp with local students a reality, and he is thrilled that, through partnerships with parents and community businesses and members, two aspiring space explorers/engineers from small-town, northern Ontario will get the chance to explore "the final frontier" as part of International Space Camp Team Canada.

International Space Camp Team Canada Biographies

Name: Devon Couch 

ISC Team Canada Position: Pilot

Education: Grade 10 at Geraldton Composite High School

Hometown: Geraldton ON Canada

Favourite Astronaut: Marc Garneau  

Favourite Space Quote: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." 

                                                                                                      -- Neil Armstrong 

ISC Team Canada Pilot Devon Couch (left)
with Mission Specialist Ben Mannisto (right)

I think I shared an interest of space with every other kid I knew. Ever since I was a young age, being an astronaut was a dream far beyond reach. In Grade 9, while completing a unit on astronomy unit in science class, my interest in the ever-expanding universe deepened. I became incredibly interested in how things work in space. When I learned about the opportunity to represent my community and my country at International Space Camp, I didn't really think it would happen. I didn't think I would get the chance to do some of the amazing things that I had dreamed of as a child. This experience will not only be extraordinary to take part in but also to bring back new information and new ways of looking at the universe.  I am grateful for this opportunity to pursue my passion for space and to bring this experience back to my community.  

Name: Ben Mannisto

ISC Team Canada Position: Mission Specialist

Education: Grade 10 Academic at Geraldton Composite High School

Hometown: Longlac ON Canada

Favourite Astronaut: Chris Hadfield

Favourite Space Quote: “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” – Arthur C. Clarke

Two separate experiences came together to convince me to pursue the dream of representing my community and my country as part of International Space Camp Team Canada: one was reading Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield’s An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth; the other was an astronomy unit in Grade 9 science. Both of these ignited a burning interest in space, the universe and everything in it. When Benjamin Jewiss presented the chance of International Space Camp to em and three of my peers and described the opportunity of to go to Huntsville Alabama for a week of what is essentially astronaut training, I applied immediately. After a strenuous interview process, I am proud to say that I made the cut.  Not only will Space Camp be an incredible amount of fun, but the engineering challenges will help me in my endeavors of becoming a mechanical engineer in the future. I am looking forward to the opportunity to bring back everything I learn through this experience to my community through public presentations to youth groups and civic organizations.