Christa Mcauliffe

One of its crew members was Christa McAuliffe, a school teacher from New Hampshire who had won a national competition to become the first teacher in space.

The goal was to boost interest in space exploration among American school children, many of whom were watching the Challenger's launch live on television or in person

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/space-shuttle-challenger-disaster-25th-anniversary/story?id=12781669