Pledges Expanded Commitment To STEM Education

Challenger Center for Space Science Education announced Monday that the chairman of its board of directors, Dr. Scott Parazynski (pictured), will detail the organization's strategic growth plan and the expanded role it will play in strengthening America's STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education in the next five years at the center's annual conference this week.

Dr. Parazynski, an astronaut who flew five shuttle missions, including STS-95 as personal physician to Senator John Glenn, will speak at several events during the Challenger Center Annual Conference 2011: From Tragedy to Triumph, being held this week in Alexandria, VA.  He will address an executive director's breakfast on August 24, as well an Anniversary Awards Banquet later that day at The Women's Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery. The conference convenes representatives from Challenger Center's network of 48 Challenger Learning Centers, educational leaders, astronauts and government and industry leaders, including executives from NASA and the aerospace industry. They come together to support the growth of Challenger Center, one of the nation's most respected and long-standing STEM organization, and to honor the fallen astronauts of the Challenger and Columbia space shuttles.

"The Challenger Center family is proud of its accomplishments over the last 25 years, but our greatest achievements are yet to come," said Dr. Parazynski. "We've come together to celebrate our past and to herald in a new and even more dynamic era in support of STEM education. Challenger Center has a greater role in ensuring America's dominance in science, exploration, and innovation."

Challenger Center's annual conference marks the organization's 25th anniversary as a leading provider of STEM education and career inspiration. The non-profit Challenger Center was founded in 1986 to honor the educational mission of the seven astronauts who flew aboard the Challenger space shuttle. Its national network of 48 Challenger Learning Centers has engaged more than four million students in simulated missions to the Moon, Mars, Comet Halley, and the asteroids, as well as in other science-themed learning experiences.

Dr. Parazynski views Challenger Center's mission as vital for America's prosperity. "Discover, innovate, and lead are what we do as Americans and what Challenger Center will continue to do in its next 25 years," he noted. "Nothing will strengthen our nation more than building the STEM education foundation and scientific knowledge that drives innovation, industry, and the human spirit.  It all starts with our children. They must believe that the greatest discoveries, the most wonderful achievements, and unprecedented prosperity lie before us.  We must prepare them academically and inspire them personally for that future. Challenger Center gives students the inspiration and STEM learning desire which convinces them that the future is theirs for the taking."

Dr. Parazynski explained that the immersive, hands-on spaceflight simulations offered at its Challenger Learning Centers will continue to be hallmarks of the organization's STEM education. He said that the organization will also explore new strategies for engaging greater numbers of students each year with learning that is real, experiential, and motivating.

"To stay at the forefront of educational innovation, Challenger Center will enter the growing online learning opportunities for students and teachers with virtual missions and other applications," he added. "This approach will greatly expand our reach while offering high-quality learning programs to students beyond the reach of our Learning Centers."

The organization also will leverage its advanced simulation technology to offer missions in STEM domains involving deep-ocean and polar exploration, bioscience and Nano science.

"Having been forged in the shuttle program, Challenger Center will maintain a major presence in space exploration and the space sciences, but we see opportunities to offer inspirational STEM learning experiences in many other domains, which can benefit from our unique and highly-successful instructional approach," said Dr. Parazynski. "We look forward to bolstering existing partnerships and creating new ones across a variety of STEM industries. Building our next generation of scientists, innovators, and leaders will take concerted cooperation between the private and public sectors, and Challenger Center intends to lead the way."

FMI: www.challenger.org