NASA Engineer Dr. Lonnie Johnson Speaks in Portland Jan. 19

Second graders at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School erupted in excited gasps when they learned a real NASA engineer was coming to their city. Just an hour earlier, most had never heard of Dr. Lonnie Johnson, but after hearing his story, they couldn't stop buzzing about his inventions.

Johnson, the inventor of the Super Soaker water gun and holder of more than 250 patents, will speak at a free Martin Luther King Jr. Day event on January 19 at Portland Community College. The keynote lecture connects King's legacy of dreaming to modern innovation and STEM careers.

Karanja Crews, founder of Teaching With Purpose, called Johnson the perfect speaker to represent King's message. "What is MLK known for? Dreaming," Crews said. "This event's theme is dream, build, innovate and enterprise, and Johnson is a representation of that."

The Super Soaker started as a happy accident during Johnson's energy experiments at NASA. What Crews calls Johnson's "side gig" became one of the most iconic toys in history, but the inventor hasn't stopped there. Today, Johnson runs two energy companies working on groundbreaking research that could change how we power our world.

To build excitement for the event, Jefferson High School's varsity basketball team spread across North and Northeast Portland elementary schools this week. Players read "Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions" to young students, sparking conversations about science and possibility.

Three Jefferson players visited their old elementary schools to share Johnson's story. Jaamir Roberson, who attended King Elementary as a child, said returning felt surreal. "It probably would have inspired me to do something else," he said, wishing he'd seen similar role models when he was younger.

Aaron Crews did his homework on Johnson before the reading. "He's one of the few Black inventors, and he's also still alive today," he said, emphasizing how rare it is for students to meet living pioneers in their fields.

The Ripple Effect

The basketball team visited multiple schools including Boise-Eliot/Humboldt, Woodlawn, and Vernon, introducing hundreds of students to possibilities they may never have imagined. After each reading, players quizzed students on the book, rewarding correct answers with their own copy to take home. Multnomah County Library donated 150 books to ensure as many children as possible could keep Johnson's story.

Roberson, who hopes to become a teacher himself, sees the power of representation. "At some point, he was in these students' shoes," he said of Johnson. "If there's a future scientist or engineer out there, Lonnie will probably be the perfect person to look up to."

The Student With Purpose Conference runs from 8 to 11:30 a.m. on Monday, January 19, at PCC Cascade Moriarty Auditorium. Registration is free and available on Eventbrite.

A NASA engineer who turned a lab accident into joy for millions of children is showing Portland kids that dreams and science go hand in hand.