Darlene Kellner

"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better... to know even one life has breathed easier because you haved lived. This is to have succeeded!"
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Childhood The value of hard work, discipline and education were thoroughly instilled by her parents, her teachers and her martial arts instructors. At the age of eight, she almost died due to a bone infection that resulted in a deformed hip joint, early onset arthritis, and an attitude that every day is a gift.
	With three older brothers to try to keep up with, she grew up as a bit of a Tom boy and by the age of 17 was recommended for her black belt in the martial art of Taekwondo.
Higher Education She headed off to Lehigh University to study Industrial Engineering. She always dreamed of becoming a pilot, but as a poor college student this past time was not affordable for her.
	Skydiving In preparation for piloting, she took up the sport of skydiving. That way she would be prepared in the event of an emergency. She progressed through the sport and by the age of 22 had become the first woman to hold instructional ratings in all methods of skydiving instruction at the highest level, Instructor/Examiner. Today, she is the fifth most experienced female skydiver in the World! Photo by Greg Rau
She has participated in several skydiving world record attempts. Shown to the right is an all women 85 way relative work formation. She is located at the three o'clock position with the burgandy rig and helmet. She helped develop modern skydiving instruction, doing research for the Instructor Assisted Deployment method of skydiving that led it to being accepted by the U.S. Parachute Association as a safe and viable instructional method. She is also a writer and has had skydiving articles published in Parachutist Magazine and also on the web at about.com.
	Love She married Don Kellner, the most experienced skydiver in the world. It was only appropriate that they performed the ceremony in freefall, with all of their skydiving friends along to witness the joyous event. The wedding was a Valentine's Day feature on television.
Engineering and Piloting While working as an engineer in the aerospace industry, she was responsible for realigning the facility into cellular manufacturing utilizing statistical quality control and a team approach. While training the staff for this new mode of working, she discovered that her true skills were in the educational realm. So despite it requiring two additional years of college for certification and a fifty percent pay cut, she made the switch. She took a few extra weeks off prior to starting back to college, so that she could finally achieve her dream of becoming a licensed pilot. She is now a commercial, instrument rated, ASEL pilot and enjoys flying skydivers and using this method of transportation to travel to cool destinations during the summer. Photo by Greg Rau
	Freefall Photography In addition to skydiving instruction, She is a proficient freefall photographer. Her most famous photo is of her husband's world record 15,000th skydive as he exited a hot air balloon in flight. This picture graces the cover of Guinness Record Breakers, the kid's version of the Guinness Book of World Records. Photo by Frank D'Andrea
Teaching Skydiving is her passion. Teaching is her career. Mrs. Kellner joined the high school faculty teaching AP Physics, Physics, and Earth & Space Science. She has also worked as the Science Department Chairperson, SADD advisor, a PJAS advisor and the Science Olympiad Coach. She accomplished her Masters Degree in Education from East Stroudsburg University. When the district decided to add a Middle School, she volunteered for the assignment. Although most teachers dread the middle years, she feels that this is the age group that she can have the most positive influence on. Having worked both in the High School and in Industry, she brings that experience to the classroom and designs her lessons to prepare her students for their future. Her skills as an educator, resulted in being chosen by NASA as one of the top 197 math and science educators in the nation and made her a member of the Network of Educator Astronaut Teachers. NASA sponsored her to come to a conference in Houston with a VIP tour of Johnson Space Center The following year, they brought her to their Goddard Facility in Maryland and then to Orlando with a VIP tour of Kennedy Space Center. Her latest trip was as a VIP guest at the lauch of STS 118 to watch Educator Astronaut, Barbara Morgan, make her long awaited trip in the space shuttle Endeavor.
	Future Although no one can tell what the future holds. One thing is certain, Mrs. Kellner will continually strive to achieve success as per Ralph Waldo Emerson: "To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better..... to know even one life has breathed easier because you haved lived. This is to have succeeded." She looks forward to touching your life in a positive way.