John Schaefers credits a U.S. president with making him look up in the sky and believe that what seemed impossible could, in fact, be accomplished.

It was while he was a student at Seneca Valley High School that Mr. Schaefers, now 60, heard President John F. Kennedy pledge that the United States would put a man on the moon and make the country a leader in science and technology.

"It was something to believe in ... it was him saying we can do this," Mr. Schaefers, of Franklin Park, recalled. "It was uplifting and it was for good, not harm."

It is that message of optimism, combined with information, that Mr. Schaefers brings into his science classroom at Ingomar Middle School in Franklin Park.

"I let the students know that unless they try, they won't know what they can do," he said. "And I want to encourage them to be lifelong learners."

It's easy to see that Mr. Schaefers practices what he preaches.

As he has done for many summers during his 32 years as a teacher -- the first 17 in Ohio and the rest at Ingomar Middle School -- Mr. Schaefers took weeks out of his summer break to attend educational workshops.

In July, it was STORM project's "Air Quality for Science Educators" at the University of Northern Iowa.

In June, it was a trip to Pasadena, Calif., to serve as a Spitzer Space Telescope Research Teacher at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology.

With STORM, which stands for the Science Center for Teaching, Outreach, and Research on Meteorology, Mr. Schaefers had a chance to conduct air quality testing and design a classroom activity to take back to his students, said Alan Czarnetzki, STORM Project Director and meteorology professor at the university.

"John was selected because of his classroom teaching experience and his ability to design curriculum materials," Mr. Czarnetzki said. "He was an outstanding participant and I would be happy to work with him again."

At the Spitzer Science Center, Mr. Schaefers learned more about the high-tech infrared telescope that was launched into space by NASA in 2003.

The scope provides images that cannot be seen by earthbound optical telescopes because of clouds of dust and gas.

The workshop was an offshoot of his role in the Space Foundation's Teacher Liaison Program, which links teachers to training and information from NASA.

"I'm trying to keep abreast of all the news and whatever I learn I try to filter down to the students," Mr. Schaefers said. "The catch is to make them see that it affects them."

In recent years, concerns about global warming, among other environmental issues, has piqued students' interest.

"In general, kids have always been interested in science," he said. "But lately there is a heightened concern. They see the melting [of the polar icecaps] and the polar bears disappearing."

Mr. Schaefers, who over the years has attended many workshops, including one that let him travel 3,000 feet into a copper mine to study modern mining, has always been driven to learn more.

After graduating from high school in 1966, Mr. Schaefers knew he loved science but wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to do for a career.

He soon joined the U.S. Navy for four years. He had a stint on a destroyer in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War.

Once home, he worked in the mill at Keystone Tubular in Butler and took courses in physics and science whenever he had the chance.

After watching guest speakers come into a paleontology class he was taking, he decided that he too wanted the chance to teach others and his plan to become an educator was set in motion.

After juggling a full-time schedule as a crane operator at the mill and a full-time schedule taking classes and student teaching at the Butler Area School District, he earned a bachelor's degree in earth and space science from Slippery Rock University.

"It was a challenge and I was tired by the end of it," he said. "But it was worth it."

Mr. Schaefers said he tries to encourage his students to put in "sweat equity" as young people so that they can control their destiny and not end up having limited choices later.

And even if they don't choose a career in the sciences, he hopes they will at least have a heightened awareness of the world around them.

"Here's what I try to tell them, 'Pay attention to what is going on around you, it's what you don't know that's going to kill you,'" he said. "I don't say it to shock and awe them, but because it's important and there's so much to learn."