The application deadline for the NASA Explorer Schools
(NES) Program is midnight April 4, 2003. Reaffirming its
commitment to education, NASA announced the education
initiative in February 2003, to bring exciting learning
opportunities to educators, students, and their families.
Under NES, NASA has partnered with the National Science
Teachers Association (NSTA) to provide a unique relationship
between schools and the agency to “inspire the next
generation of explorers.” In fact, the number of
applications to the NES more than doubled following last
week’s NSTA conference in Philadelphia.
The NES Program is designed to provide customized, extended
professional development for educators. It will also provide
authentic mathematics and science experiences for students
and their families.
Fifty NES teams will be chosen from around the country to
begin the journey. The teams will have a week of intensive
training at one of NASA’s 10 Field Centers in July. Each
team will consist of three or four science, mathematics, or
technology educators and an administrator. The teams will
develop and implement action plans to address local needs in
science, mathematics, or technology education for the
following three years. During the 2003 pilot year, the
program will focus on content at the five thru eight grade
levels.
Educator/administrator teams will work with NASA specialists
to integrate agency science content into their curriculum
through problem-solving activities and to incorporate
challenges into their mathematics and science curriculum.
Students will have opportunities to apply science,
mathematics and technology to real-world issues and problems
and to learn about the vast array of career options at NASA.
Students and their families will be the focus of interactive
local and on-line learning experiences.
NES Teams will be eligible for a $10,000 grant. The grant is
designed to assist with the purchase of science and
technology tools to support the teams’ implementation plan
to bring cutting edge technology applications to the
classroom.
To learn more about the NES program on the Internet and the
on-line application process:
http://explorerschools.nasa.gov
For more information about NASA programs on the Internet,
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