Sonja Alexander

Headquarters, Washington, DC

(Phone: 202/358-1761)

Barbara Kakiris

Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH

(Phone: 216-433-2513)

MEDIA ADVISORY: m00-051

On Thursday, March 16, another step will be taken towards
pioneering the technology forefront with the dedication of an
aerospace laboratory at the Anne Beers Elementary School in
Washington, DC.

The new educational resource, which enables students and
teachers to perform innovative activities such as flying simulated
Space Shuttle missions, is the result of a partnership between
Beers; NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH; NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD; Orchard Elementary School,
Cleveland, OH; and the University of the District of Columbia.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at Beers, located
at 3600 Alabama Avenue, SE, Washington, DC, at 10:00 am. NASA
dignitaries will join former Congressman Louis Stokes, other
government officials and Beers staff to participate in the event.

“The collaboration between Glenn and Goddard serves as a
catalyst for combining resources and technology to address the
proficiency levels of the under-served community,” said John M.
Hairston, Jr., Director of External Programs at Glenn.

The state-of-the-art laboratory boasts unique features that
transport students from their traditional classroom setting to a
simulated Shuttle cockpit and mission control center. Its NASA-
developed curriculum involves students in activities that vary
from launching and landing Shuttle missions to stargazing under
the dome of the lab’s planetarium.

The facility will be named the Congressman Louis Stokes
Aeronautics Laboratory in honor of the man who originally
announced the highly successful partnership in 1998. Numerous
positive outcomes have resulted from the collaboration. In
addition to assisting with the new lab opening, Glenn and Goddard
have provided the means and support for establishing a Science,
Engineering, and Mathematics curriculum at Beers, as well as a
distance learning program between Beers and Orchard Elementary
School.

-end-