The day started with a moment of silence during morning announcements. There were also classroom reflections and a student-created legacy wall during lunch.
Seventh graders Hannah Hayes posts messages on a legacy wall at Chirsta McAuliffe Middle School in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. Students honored their school’s namesake by marking the 40th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster with remembrances throughout the day. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Students with their legacy wall at Chirsta McAuliffe Middle School in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. Students honored their school’s namesake by marking the 40th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster with remembrances throughout the day. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Eighth grader Kennedy Ford write a message for a legacy wall at Chirsta McAuliffe Middle School in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. Students honored their school’s namesake by marking the 40th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster with remembrances throughout the day. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Students with their legacy wall at Chirsta McAuliffe Middle School in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. Students honored their school’s namesake by marking the 40th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster with remembrances throughout the day. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Hannah Hayes, left, and Kennedy Ford pose for a picture at their legacy wall at Chirsta McAuliffe Middle School in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. Students honored their school’s namesake by marking the 40th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster with remembrances throughout the day. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
1 of 5
Seventh graders Hannah Hayes posts messages on a legacy wall at Chirsta McAuliffe Middle School in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. Students honored their school’s namesake by marking the 40th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster with remembrances throughout the day. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
McAuliffe was a teacher who had been chosen for the shuttle mission through NASA’s Teacher in Space Project; she was going to teach two lessons from the Challenger. Her involvement in the flight had renewed interest in the space missions across the country.
Teacher Jennifer Letourneau said she remembers, “sitting in (her middle school) class, and my geography teacher walked in late to class, she was crying, and she said, ‘The Challenger just exploded.’”
As for her middle school students, Letourneau said they are learning about McAuliffe, but are also focusing on her curiosity and legacy, asking, “What do you want your legacy to be? And, Curiosity means (blank) to me.”
Eighth-grader Maddie Presciado helped organize the day’s events, saying McAuliffe is “very inspirational because she was an ordinary person, just like all of the people at school.”
Opened in 1967, Pine Junior High School was renamed to Christa McAuliffe Middle School at the start of the 1986 school year.
