Gifted kids’ tribute to Hawking

GIFTED children at the Stephen Hawking school in Colombia’s capital Bogota have been paying a special tribute to the astrophysicist whose life inspired them to study science.

They have covered walls of the school with drawings, photographs and cards in memory of the wheelchairbound Hawking, who died on Wednesday at 76.

The school named after Hawking was founded in 1995 by a group of teachers committed to helping children with low resources, but high IQs. Dora Pardo, who runs the school, said several past pupils had gone on to study physics and mathematics at university.

Pupil Juan Esteban Lopez, 16, said: “Hawking couldn’t move but his incapacity didn’t deter him, and he was one of the people who knew most about space without having been there.”

Catalina Sanchez, another pupil moved by Hawking’s death, said the school children consulted short films, plays and books by or about the scientist on a daily basis. Every year, the pupils mark the British astrophysicist’s birthday, on January 8, with a science festival, but they want to go further.

“We want to be his spokespersons,” she said.

The pupils would visit other secondary schools to help children understand that Hawking had helped them to learn more about the universe.

Propelled to stardom by his 1988 book, A Brief History of Time, an unlikely worldwide bestseller, Hawking won over fans from far beyond the rarefied world of astrophysics. – AFP