This year marked the 30th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger’s explosion.

The night of the tragedy, President Ronald Reagan addressed the country with what many view as one of his most poignant speeches.

The speech was written by Peggy Noonan, who will be in New Albany on Tuesday, Oct. 18, as part of the New Albany Community Foundation’s Jefferson Series.

Noonan included now famous words taken from a poem.

“The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives,” Reagan said in the speech. “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’ ”

The phrases surly bonds and face of God were taken from “High Flight,” a work by John Gillespie Magee, an American airman who died at 19 while serving in World War II.

In a Washington Post interview, Noonan said, “It just came to me. I just remembered it from seventh grade.”

How fitting that years later through the community foundation’s student lecture series, our students have the unique opportunity to learn about history from Noonan. Like Noonan, they may someday draw from these experiences later in life.

Noonan would go on to pen many other famous speeches, such as Reagan’s remarks at the 40th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy and George H.W. Bush’s famous phrase, “a thousand points of light.”

“Peggy Noonan had a front-row seat for important moments in America’s history and she played a key role,” said Michael DeAscentis, former board chairman for the community foundation. “We are proud to sponsor her visit because we know her experiences and perspective will inspire students and help them understand the connection between what they study and how they might impact the world through their choice of careers.”

The community foundation has been hosting extraordinary speakers since 2002, and through its collaboration with New Albany-Plain Local and surrounding school districts, students receive books authored by the speakers in advance of the lectures and have the opportunity to interact with the speakers.

It’s all part of the foundation’s commitment to promote lifelong learning.