This Echo is READ ONLY !   NO Un-Authorized Messages Please!
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NASA News 
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration

John F. Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899
AC 321-867-2468
_____________________________________________________________________
For Release: July 2, 2003       

Bruce Buckingham
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(321) 867-2468                      

KSC Release No. 54 - 03

FIVE SCHOOLS FROM FLORIDA, GEORGIA SELECTED FOR NASA EXPLORER SCHOOLS
PROGRAM 

NASA's new education initiative, the NASA Explorer Schools Program,
was launched June 30, 2003 during the National Educational Computing
Conference (NECC 2003) in Seattle. Dr. Adena Williams Loston, NASA
associate administrator for education, and astronaut Don Pettit
formally announced the first 50 competitively selected NASA Explorer
Schools. Nearly 1,000 educators, policy makers and educational
technology industry representatives, including education
representatives from Kennedy Space Center, were present at the
conference. The innovative program will send the nation's science and
mathematics teachers "back to school" at NASA Centers during the
summer. 

Among the 50 Explorer School Teams selected from 30 states, five
schools were from Kennedy Space Center's district that includes
Florida and Georgia. The schools are Carol City Elementary School,
Opa Locka, Fla.; Stewart Magnet Middle School, Tampa; Oscar Patterson
Elementary School, Panama City, Fla.; Howard W. Bishop, Gainesville,
Fla.; and Bunche Middle School, Atlanta, Ga.

During the commitment period, NASA KSC will invite teachers from the
selected schools to the space center to acquire new teaching
resources and technology tools, using NASA's unique content, experts
and other resources, to help make learning science, mathematics and
technology more appealing to students. The program is directed
specifically at students in grades 5 through 8.

"At NASA, we feel compelled to act, to implement proactive and
innovative approaches, such as the NASA Explorer Schools Program, to
help stem the decline in the number of young people pursuing study of
science, technology, engineering and math disciplines," Loston said.
"If we can help in ways unique to NASA's mission, to hold students'
interest in match and science through the middle school years, we
would anticipate a marked increase in students entering related
careers. The nation's continued leadership in science and technology
depends on the efforts of NASA and others." 

The new initiative is sponsored by the NASA Education Enterprise in
collaboration with the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).
It establishes a three-year partnership between NASA and 50 NASA
Explorer Schools teams, consisting of teachers and education
administrators from diverse communities across the country.

For a list of NASA's first 50 Explorer Schools or information about
NASA's Explorer Schools Program, visit the program's web site:
http://explorerschools.nasa.gov.

For information about the NASA Education Enterprise and programs,
visit: http://education.nasa.gov.

For information about NASA on the Internet, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov.

-- end --

 - END OF FILE -
==========

@Message posted automagically by IMTHINGS POST 1.30
---