ALEXANDRIA, VA: On April 9, 2008 Challenger Center for Space Science Education announced five recipients who received the 2008 Teacher of the Year Award. Each year, Challenger Center recognizes teachers who exemplify the spirit of the Challenger 51-L crew’s educational mission. The award allows our network of 50 Challenger Learning Centers around the world to nominate teachers who have made a noticeable impact on students and their community through their commitment to teaching and learning in science, technology and mathematics.
All nominated teachers have gone above and beyond to educate their students, enriching their community and ensuring that their students have the opportunity to succeed in future endeavors. Challenger Center for Space Science Education congratulates and acknowledges the following unsung heroes as teachers of the year:
Vicky Driver, a science teacher at Connell Middle in San Antonio, Texas has worked diligently to see that every 6th grader at Connell Middle attends the Comet mission at the Challenger Learning Center of San Antonio. Ms. Driver’s cross-curricular approach addresses multiple learning styles and elicits great enthusiasm for learning from students. It is because of her positive influence that her students, who are at-risk kids from low socio-economic backgrounds, do not fall into the temptations of drugs and gangs. Students have come back and shared with her the colleges they will be attending and the positive impact she and the Challenger Learning Center have had in their lives.
Amanda Lane-Cline is the Director of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) at the American Academy Charter School, in Lone Tree, Colorado. Ms. Lane-Cline truly exemplifies the Challenger Learning Center of Colorado’s educational mission. As the STEM Director at American Academy she approves every grade from K-8 to attend various missions provided at their Challenger Learning Center. Ms. Lane-Cline attends all educational training sessions provided by the Center to ensure that she is prepared to support her students and her team of teachers. Ms. Lane-Cline ensures that her students receive the best educational experience possible. Her dedication to students and teachers is demonstrated through their enthusiasm for the missions they successfully complete.
Pamela A. Rentner, a 5th grade teacher at Sylvania Schools in Toledo, Ohio ensures that all students in the 5th grade have the opportunity to attend their Challenger Learning Center. Through her unique approach and creative instruction she excites students and teachers for their mission by turning the 5th grade wing of their school into a space exploration training camp. Ms. Rentner recognizes the importance of the program and will work to secure funding if funds are not available from the school district. Ms. Rentner’s encouragement and enthusiasm with her students and teachers demonstrates the qualities necessary to make an impact and inspire those around her.
Thelma Ritchie, 5th grade teacher at Island Park Elementary School, Mercer Island, Washington incorporates Challenger Learning Center missions into her curriculum as it enhances their study of flight, rocketry and the solar system. She makes it her responsibility to schedule missions for all of the 5th grade classes in her school, ensuring that all of the teachers have the materials they need, and know how to prepare their students. Ms. Ritchie has brought experts, such as NASA educators and Viking research scientists, into her classroom and has collaborated with teachers and scientists to build an educational website about Mars and Earth, and has even written several science fiction books in her quest for new and exciting ways to engage students in learning. Due to the commitment and leadership of Ms. Ritchie, all fifth grade classes in her district have had the opportunity to fly a Challenger mission over the past ten years.
Samantha Doctor teaches grades 3-5 in science at Florence Nightingale School in New York, NY. Ms. Doctor is exceptionally creative with the approach she takes to incorporate Challenger Center missions into her classes. For example, when her students study lizards, she requests that the focus of the mission is centered on the idea of ecosystems in space. Ms. Doctor continuously maximizes Challenger Center resources and assists in development of programs that are offered to all New York City elementary school students. Ms. Doctor is a unique teacher who actively looks for connections between the activities at the Challenger Center and the concepts and skills her students need to learn.
June Scobee Rodgers, Ph.D., widow of Challenger commander Dick Scobee, and the Founding Chairman of Challenger Center, said, “These five gifted instructors come from diverse geographic regions, teach different grade levels, and work with students of varying abilities. What links them together is a genuine desire to ignite their students’ curiosities about the universe that surrounds them, as well as convince them that their futures literally have no boundaries. All of us at Challenger Center are grateful that each of these teachers has found our Challenger Learning Center programs to be a fundamental component of their curriculum.”
Challenger Center’s Teacher of the Year Award is a special medallion that was produced by NASA from a small ball of pure aluminum material that was taken on the Apollo 8 mission. Upon return to Earth, this memento was melted with a larger amount of pure aluminum from which the special Medallions were struck. A small number of the Medallions remained entrusted to Mr. Turner Wiley who was Chief of NASA Communications (NASCOM) Engineering Branch at the Goddard Space Flight Center during the Apollo 8 mission.
At his request, his gift is being used to honor students and teachers who perform exemplary work in education. Mr. Wiley stated, “What better way to continue the tradition of these medallions than to reward educators who are working in both classrooms and Challenger Learning Centers to cultivate the next generation of space explorers.
About Challenger Center for Space Science Education Challenger Center for Space Science Education was founded in 1986 by the families of the astronauts lost during the last flight of the Challenger Space Shuttle 51-L mission. Through Challenger Center’s programs and our network of 50 Challenger Learning Centers, the diversity, spirit and commitment to education that exemplified the Challenger 51-L mission continues to make an impact on students, teachers and families. Today, the crews mission continues with over 300,000 students and 25,000 teachers a year engaged in science, mathematics, engineering and technology. To locate a Challenger Learning Center near you, visit www.challenger.org.
