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Gretchen Cook-Anderson
Headquarters, Washington                  March 17, 2003
(Phone: 202/358-0836)

Victoria Watson
Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club
(Phone: 718/379-2830)

RELEASE: 03-105

NASA ASTRONAUT HELPS STUDENTS SEE LEARNING IN NEW LIGHT

     NASA astronaut and former NFL player Leland Melvin will 
visit with more than 450, K-12 students from the Gloria Wise 
Boys & Girls Club & Community Center, and their teachers, on 
Wednesday, March 19 at 4:15 p.m. at M.S. 142, 3750 Baychester 
Avenue, Bronx, N.Y.

Melvin will explain NASA's Educator Astronaut Program (EAP) 
and encourage interest among young people in science, 
technology, engineering and mathematics. Melvin, co-program 
manager of the EAP, along with co-program manager Debbie 
Brown, have criss-crossed the country since the Program's 
inception in January. They meet face-to-face with students 
and teachers as a part of NASA's effort to connect space 
exploration with the classroom and to inspire the next 
generation of explorers.

"In addition to showing students just how much fun science 
learning can be, I believe it is essential to highlight the 
need for students to develop an academic and career plan of 
action that includes alternatives, a plan B, if you will," 
Melvin said. Injured at the cusp of his professional football 
career, Melvin pursued an alternative passion for engineering 
that led to his application to and acceptance into NASA's 
Permanent Astronaut Corps in 1998.  

"Our young people are thrilled about a NASA astronaut coming 
to visit the Bronx," said Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club & 
Community Center's Executive Director Charles Rosen. "This is 
a rare opportunity for the children of our community to get 
revved about learning science by meeting a young astronaut 
whose background is similar to their own in many ways.  We're 
delighted to host him and help support the NASA Educator 
Astronaut Program," he said.

Through the EAP, NASA, for the first time, is recruiting 
individuals with specific experience and expertise in K-12 
education, and planning to send them into space as fully 
trained NASA astronauts. Melvin will encourage the Center's 
students to nominate their teachers for the EAP. The EAP 
application deadline is April 30, 2003.

For more information about the EAP, application process, and 
eligibility requirements, on the Internet, visits the NASA 
EAP Web site at: 

http://edspace.nasa.gov/

For more information about other NASA education initiatives, 
visit:

http://education.nasa.gov/

The Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club & Community Center 
advocates and develops social, recreational and educational 
programs that connect young people with opportunities for 
personal growth and achievement. Over the past 25 years, the 
Center has provided hundreds of girls and boys with daily, 
guidance-oriented character development programs, firmly 
establishing a reputation as "The Positive Place for Kids" in 
the North East Bronx.

Melvin will also make an earlier appearance in the Bronx on 
March 19 at 3:00 p.m. at Intermediate School 162 as a part of 
the NASA Starship 2040 exhibit tour of New York State, hosted 
in the Bronx by the Office of Congressman Jose E. Serrano. 
The tour of Starship 2040, a mock-up of a futuristic 
spaceliner, highlights the significant role New York plays in 
America's space program. Starship 2040 is used as an 
opportunity to excite students about future possibilities and 
encourage an interest in science.

To schedule an interview with Melvin, in conjunction with his 
Bronx area appearances, contact Gretchen Cook-Anderson at: 
202/358-0836.

For more information about NASA on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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