Haise encourages students at TFAE banquet

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With the title of astronaut attached to his name, Fred Haise tends to get a multitude of questions about what it was like in space and the success of his career.

“When I was young there were no astronauts, except fictional ones,” Haise, a lunar module pilot on the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, said at TFAE’s Celebration of Excellence Program Thursday night.

He addressed the crowd of 11 distinguished scholars and the public school educators who’ve most impacted their lives, along with their parents, school administrators, school board members and parish officials.


“Clearly the people who gave me the most benefit showed me things like discipline, thoughts of ambition and character traits,” Haise said of his parents.

He said the path to becoming an astronaut had some deviations along the way, but the people in his life helped pave his future.

“I really didn’t have a favorite teacher,” Haise said, noting the unique qualities of each of his educators. “But clearly other than my parents, they were the people who had to spend the most time with me that helped me to get straight on the path to a goal that eventually led to me becoming an astronaut.”


Haise shared video footage from his mission on the moon-bound craft that never reached its target, but instead became NASA’s greatest rescue mission after a spark from an exposed wire in an oxygen tank caused a fire and damaged the spacecraft’s controls.

The video begins with crewmembers suiting up, riding to the launch pad, strapping in, closing the hatch and the spacecraft ascending into space.

Haise said the Apollo 13 mission was “a very short time of my life, 6 days in 1970,” but it also gave him the most notoriety.


Their mission was scripted into a Hollywood movie, which made the experience on board the space shuttle more dramatic than it was, Haise said.

Most of their time focused on technical issues and troubleshooting procedures, which was alerted for effect in the movie, but he did applaud one idea Hollywood supplemented.

“Failure is not an option,” Haise said of the phrase added to the Academy Award-winning film. “And that was clearly the way that we felt, so I give Hollywood credit for that.”


For students honored at the banquet, failure is also not an option, as most of them have aspirations and plans in place post-graduation in May.

Bonnie Wells, a distinguished scholar from Terrebonne High school, said she was honored to represent her school.

“This is about representing my school and pushing Terrebonne High School forward,” Wells said.


Wells is the student council president, a member of student publications, the Positive Behavior Intervention and Support Committee, National Honor Society and serves as the school mascot.

What’s next after graduation is the million dollar question, Wells said.

“I plan to go to LSU and study broadcast journalism, not to work the newsroom, but to film documentaries,” she said.


While at LSU, Wells aspires to start a nonprofit organization to assist public schools throughout the nation by speaking at lower end schools and encouraging students that they have the potential to succeed.

“I really want to help the public school system flourish,” Wells said. “I like making big changes.”

Virginia Lottinger, a teacher at Terrebonne High School, serves as Wells’ student council sponsor and was nominated as her inspirational educator.


“She is the teacher that changed my life,” Wells said. “Her communication skills and everything she does is truly inspirational to all students, not just to me.”

Lottinger said Wells is the true inspiration since she has managed to change the spirit of Terrebonne High and acknowledges her ability to help other students find the leader within them.

“It’s students like Bonnie that make me want to teach,” Lottinger said. “Some days our job is really tough, but knowing that you’re going to school and see someone like Bonnie, somebody who cares and wants to make a difference, it makes you want to make a difference too and makes this job worth it.”


Kyler Trosclair, another distinguished scholar from Ellender Memorial High School, plans to attend the University of Memphis where she will study mechanical engineering and play softball.

While at Ellender, she stays busy throughout the school year as the National Honor Society President and a member of the softball and track team.

“It’s a great honor knowing that all my hard work is paying off,” Trosclair said.


She nominated John Haslitt, a history teacher at Ellender, as her inspirational educator, and credits him for fostering her love of history.

“Kyler is a great student,” Haslitt said. “She puts in a lot of hard work both in the classroom and as an athlete. She’s involved in a lot of things after school, and to maintain the GPA she has takes a lot of hard work.”

Just as Haise, the distinguished scholars and educators have learned the importance of perseverance and teamwork.


Although his days with NASA began more than 55 years ago, Haise credits every experience along the way as part of his success.

The acclaimed astronaut said he is lucky and privileged for his life experiences, along with “accidentally” finding the right career path in aeronautics.

“From my standpoint I’ve had a very good career,” Haise said. “Sometimes challenging, but a very rewarding career.”


Russell (Red) Hornsby, Terrebonne Parish Council Chairman and Parish President Michel Claudet present Fred Haise with a key to Terrebonne Parish and the City of Houma at Thursday’s TFAE banquet. Haise shared his experiences aboard the ill-fated Apollo 13 space shuttle to 11 distinguished scholars and their inspirational educators. 

CHANNING PARFAIT | TRI-PARISH TIMES