Over the last ten years an innovative program managed by the Office of
Educational Programs at NASA’s Glenn Research Center has been inspiring a
diverse student population, K-12, to pursue careers in the fields of
science, engineering, mathematics and technology.

The 10th anniversary celebration of SEMAA (Science, Engineering, Mathematics
and Aerospace Academy) will coincide with the annual National SEMAA
Conference to be held June 16-19 in Cleveland, Ohio. Educators, students,
parents and administrators from all 19 SEMAA sites across the country will
attend. The focus of the conference is to develop additional ways to create
awareness and access to programs with similar purposes and to develop
partnerships.

The following three events are open to the media:

Monday, June 16, at 7 p.m. following a welcome dinner at the Radisson Inn
Cleveland Airport in North Olmsted, awards will be presented to Former
Congressman Louis Stokes; Dr. Jerry Sue Thornton, President of Cuyahoga
Community College (Tri-C); John Hairston, Director of External Programs; and
Dr. Lynn Bondurant, retired Educational Programs Officer at Glenn, for their
work in establishing the SEMAA program.

SEMAA was born in 1993 of then U.S. Congressman Louis Stokes’ concern about
the low level of academic achievement of the young students in his District
and his urging for the creation of a unique program that would focus on
mathematics and science. Educational personnel at Glenn and Tri-C embraced
his idea and developed the SEMAA program.

Dr. Yvonne Freeman will speak on "No Child Left Behind" at a luncheon on
Tuesday, June 17, at OAI in Brook Park, Ohio. Dr. Freeman is the Executive
Director of SECME, Inc., one of the premier precollege programs in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics for teachers, educational leaders
and students in the nation.

Activities on Wednesday, June 18, at Tri-C’s Metro Campus between 2-4 p.m.
will feature students from SEMAA sites in the Cleveland area at Tri-C and
Lakeland Community College and in Dayton, Ohio. A panel of students will
share their experiences in the program and parents will talk about how the
program has benefited their children. There will also be demonstrations of
robots built by the students for the FIRST Robotics Competition and the LEGO
League Robotics program.

Further information about SEMAA can be found at http://www.semaa.net