Scott and Mark Kelly, West Orange natives and the only siblings ever to have flown in space, get their old elementary school named after them Watch video
WEST ORANGE -- It was hardly the first countdown astronaut brothers Mark and Scott Kelly eagerly awaited. The identical twins and West Orange natives had both piloted multiple space shuttle missions.
But this lift-off was different.
After hundreds of K-5 students counted down from 10, the brothers -- still identical at age 52, with their shaved heads and blue NASA jackets -- lifted a pair of cloaks from a sign out front of the school building on Pleasant Valley Way to reveal its new name: Kelly Elementary School. Under the name, the sign bore a childlike image of a rocket ship with the smiling faces of two astronauts, "Scott" and "Mark," looking out a pair of portholes.
The sign unveiling capped an hour-long ceremony that was equal parts reverent and comic, led by Assemblyman John McKehon, a former West Orange mayor, in honor of the Kelly brothers, who had attended what was then known as Pleasantdale Elementary School more than 40 years earlier.
A more all-American scene would be hard to set: the school's young choir singing the "Star Spangled Banner," as students, educators and elected officials stood with hands on hearts; a pair of hometown heroes (twin astronauts, no less!) sharing a lectern, jokes, and wisdom under the red brick school's arched main entrance; all of them basking in the sunshine and shade of a beautiful spring day.
It could have been a verse out of Gerry Goffen and Carol King's "Pleasant Valley Sunday" -- written, as McKeon pointed out, by the former West Orange couple about the very street the school is on -- but without the underlying cynicism of The Monkees' 1967 hit.
In March, Scott Kelly returned to Earth after spending 340 days on the International Space Station, an experience he summed up on one word as "amazing."
While Mark Kelly has flown four shuttle missions and written six books, three of them for children, he is also well known as the husband of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded in a mass shooting in Arizona that killed six people, and the couple have become prominent gun control advocates.
"I, obviously, am Mark Kelly, the better-looking and smarter one," joked the first brother to speak, poking fun at their remarkable likeness, both physically and in terms of their accomplishments. (Aside from being the only siblings who have both flown in space, each one has a master's degree in aeronautical engineering.)
On a slightly more serious note, the veteran space traveler later told awed young listeners, "What I want to say to you is, go and reach for the stars, because if you reach for the stars, the sky is definitely not the limit."
The brothers are the sons of Richard and Patricia Kelly, who were both West Orange Police officers. Their mother, who died in 2012, was the departments first woman officer. Their father, who retired as a captain in 1986, said Thursday was one of the proudest, most moving days of his life, along with the relief he felt at the successful culmination of Scott's time on the space station.
"One of the great moments of my life was the day that Scott landed after 340 days in space," said the elder Kelly. "Because I had spent the entire time, every, watching the NASA Channel, and all the craft that exploded, supply ships. So this is right up there, but in a different way."
The astronauts were also scheduled to appear later in the day at Town Hall, where Mayor Rob Parisi planned to officially declare Kelly Family Day in West Orange.
Despite their accomplishments, or because of them, the brothers used modesty to make their points. They told the students that they had started out as mediocre students in school and pilots in the Navy, but that they had improved and excelled through diligence and hard work, as lesson educators present said was invaluable to any struggling students, especially coming from such larger-than-life figures.
"The worst thing we can do to a child, the worst thing," emphacized Susan Cole, president of Montclair State University, "is to underestimate their potential."
Cole said Montclair State will partner with West Orange Public Schools in applying for a NASA program fostering science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Kelly School students took their namesakes' message to heart.
"Something that stood out to me today was how they struggled in school but they worked hard and became astronauts," said fifth grader Nate Kilonzo, 10. "Sometimes in science there's something I don't understand, so when i go home I stay on it and get help from my mom. This makes me want to work harder to I can as successful as they have."
During the ceremony, McKeon had marveled at the self-control it must have taken the students to sit still and pay attention for so long, something he said the rambunctious young Kelly brothers might have lacked at their age.
Fifth-grader Victoria Afolabi, 11, said she was surprised to hear that.
"Because they had to stay so long in space, I thought they would have had a good attention span when they were younger," she said. "It makes me think that I can do anything. And it makes me reach for the stars."
Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.