NASA's new education initiative, the NASA Explorer Schools Program, was launched June 30 during the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC 2003) in Seattle (WA). Dr. Adena Williams Loston, NASA associate administrator for education, and astronaut Don Pettit formally announced the first 50 competitively selected NASA Explorer Schools.

Nearly 1,000 educators, policy makers and educational technology industry representatives, including education representatives from Kennedy Space Center, were present at the conference. The innovative program will send the nation's science and mathematics teachers "back to school" at NASA Centers during the summer.

During the commitment period, NASA KSC will invite teachers from the selected schools to the space center to acquire new teaching resources and technology tools, using NASA's unique content, experts and other resources, to help make learning science, mathematics and technology more appealing to students. The program is directed specifically at students in grades 5 through 8.

"At NASA, we feel compelled to act, to implement proactive and innovative approaches, such as the NASA Explorer Schools Program, to help stem the decline in the number of young people pursuing study of science, technology, engineering and math disciplines," Loston said.

"If we can help in ways unique to NASA's mission, to hold students' interest in match and science through the middle school years, we would anticipate a marked increase in students entering related careers. The nation's continued leadership in science and technology depends on the efforts of NASA and others."

The new initiative is sponsored by the NASA Education Enterprise in collaboration with the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). It establishes a three-year partnership between NASA and 50 NASA Explorer Schools teams, consisting of teachers and education administrators from diverse communities across the country.

FMI: http://explorerschools.nasa.gov; http://education.nasa.gov