Former Astronaut Jerry Carr To Be Burr and Burton Academy’s Commencement Speaker. Bill Muench To Give Faculty Address.

Headmaster Mark H. Tashjian is pleased to announce that Skylab astronaut Jerry Carr has accepted the school’s invitation to be the speaker at the 2009 Commencement Exercises.

“We are very excited that Jerry has agreed to be our speaker,” said Tashjian. “As this year is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo lunar landing and the 400th anniversary of Galileo's invention of the telescope, Mr. Carr's presence has historical as well as present-day relevance.”

Carr, who is currently living in Manchester, was one of the nineteen astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He served as a member of the astronaut support crews for the Apollo 8 and 12 flights, and was involved in the development and testing of the lunar roving vehicle used on the lunar surface by Apollo flight crews.

He was commander of Skylab 4 (third and final manned visit to the Skylab Orbital Workshop) launched November 16, 1973, and concluded February 8, 1974. This was the longest manned flight (84 days, 1 hour, 15 minutes) in the history of manned space exploration to date. After working on several technical assignments involved in the development of the Space Shuttle, Carr left NASA in 1977 to become a professional engineer and consultant, and subsequently set up Camus, a family business that provides consulting services to the space industry in the development of space stations and exploring the moon and Mars.

The Class of 2009 has requested a new tradition be established this year with the first Faculty Commencement Speaker. The seniors elected English teacher Bill Muench to be the first speaker. Muench, who teaches a very popular course called Space and Time, has brought many famous scientists and astronauts to his class via videoconferencing and is a good friend of Jerry Carr’s. He also teaches Advanced Placement psychology, coaches basketball, and is an adjunct professor at Castleton State College.

Commencement ceremonies will take place on Friday, June 12, at 5:30 pm at the school.