👩🏾‍🚀 Florida library program teaches kids to reach for the stars with Black history lesson

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A group of preschoolers are getting a lesson that’s out of this world and learning about Astronaut Mae Jemison.

In 1992, Jemison flew onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launching from Kennedy Space Center and becoming the first African American woman to travel to space.

The lesson was a part of just one of hundreds of classes and activities offered through the Orange County Library System — and they’re free.

Hungerford Elementary School teacher Dionne Joseph brings her Pre-K class to the Eatonville Branch every month.

“It helps their cognitive development, their language development, and more. Here at the library, they’re learning subtraction, vocabulary, concepts they wouldn’t get at home,” Joseph said.

The lesson started with story time. One of the librarians reading the book “Mae Among the Stars,” then the kids got hands-on building their own rockets with colors construction paper and glue. They used different shapes to create the image along with stars in the background.

OCLS offers classes for toddlers up to adults with everything from story time to homeschool lessons. They have language and tech classes, along with cooking and sewing classes.

Click HERE to learn more about what OCLS offers.