LYNCHBURG -- Astronaut Leland Melvin had a packed agenda yesterday during his first trip to his hometown since his February space flight.

At his alma mater, Heritage High School, awestruck students, faculty and staff eagerly welcomed back one of their own.

Melvin urged students to pursue greatness. With good education and a supportive family, he said, the sky's the limit.

"I don't want to be the only Pioneer who goes to space," he said, referring to Heritage's mascot. "It all starts right here, with education and perseverance."

Melvin returned to the school a specially crafted Heritage flag that he took with him on the space shuttle.

"He's a true example of what a Pioneer is," Mark Miear, the school's principal, said. "He's the reason our teachers teach."

Superintendent Paul McKendrick said Melvin's presence was a tribute to the school system.

"He exemplifies everything you tell students they can be or do," he said. "You can't help but be proud of him."

Melvin spent 12 days in space aboard the shuttle Atlantis. During the mission, he operated a 58-foot robotic arm to install the Columbus laboratory onto the International Space Station -- work he compared to playing video games.

"Video games are a good thing," Melvin said. "But you have to study also."

At Liberty University Vines Center, Melvin shook his head in disbelief when Mayor Joan Foster proclaimed yesterday Leland Melvin Day.

Melvin reminisced about his childhood in Lynchburg and his path to NASA.

"I'm honoring my parents. I'm honoring my teachers. I'm honoring the people who have helped get me where I am today," he said.

"You're going to be our next leaders, our next explorers, our next astronauts. It's important that you carry on the legacy of those who have given their lives, their time and their efforts before you."

"It's not about me being here," he added later in a news conference. "It's about honoring this village that raised me."
Annie McCallum and Casey Gillis are staff writers for The News & Advance in Lynchburg.