Christa McAuliffe Vice President George H. W. Bush announced that she had been selected for the position. Another teacher, Barbara Morgan, served as her backup. According to Mark Travis of the "Concord Monitor", it was her manner that set her apart from the other candidates. NASA official Alan Ladwig said "she had an infectious enthusiasm", and NASA psychiatrist Terrence McGuire told "New Woman" magazine that "she was the most broad-based, best-balanced person of the 10." Later that year, she and Morgan each took a year-long leave of absence from teaching in order to train for a space shuttle mission in early 1986.
The Christa McAuliffe Prize including befriending and helping deaf people expand their capacity to learn despite a closed learning center to virtually adopting students and helping them out financially while fighting school bureaucracy. The winning teacher receives a $1000 stipend and a plaque that is presented at a banquet held in his or her honor. This year the winning school will receive a $500 award to help support important school activities. Nominations for this award can be submitted to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln through their website and is open to any Nebraska teacher that demonstrates courage in education. The Christa McAuliffe Prize The Nebraska