05.18.

07

Amber Philman
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468

RELEASE: 21-07

NASA SELECTS GEORGIA, FLORIDA SCHOOLS FOR UNIQUE

PARTNERSHIP

NASA recently announced that Bear Creek Middle School in Fairburn,

Ga., Park Creek Elementary in Dalton, Ga., and Flamingo Elementary in
Hialeah, Fla., have been selected to begin a special three-year
partnership with NASA. They are among 25 school teams nationwide that
were named as new NASA Explorer Schools, or NES.

The goal of the NES program is to use NASA's unique missions to

inspire student learning in science, technology, engineering,
mathematics and geography. NASA's Kennedy Space Center will
administer the NES partnership with Bear Creek Middle School, Park
Creek Elementary School and Flamingo Elementary School.
Representatives from Kennedy will help kick off the program with
presentations at each school during the coming school year.

"This program enables schools and their communities to partner with

NASA to develop the nation's future science, technology, engineering
and mathematics work force," said NES Program Manager Rob Lasalvia.
"It is today's students who will help make the nation's vision of
sending humans back to the moon, then on to Mars and beyond, a
reality."

To begin the formal partnership, a team of educators and

administrators from the three schools will attend a one-week
professional development workshop July 15-20 at Kennedy. Each school
team will develop a strategic plan to address its students' needs in
mathematics, science and technology education. Schools also may apply
for technology grants of up to $17,500 over the three-year period to
help implement their plans.

The NASA Explorer School Program began in 2003 in collaboration with

the National Science Teachers Association. The program targets
schools in grades four through nine. There are now 200 teams in the
program, representing 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico and the Virgin Islands.
With this program, NASA continues the agency's tradition of investing
in the nation's education programs. It is directly tied to the
agency's major education goal of attracting and retaining students in
the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics,
or STEM. To compete effectively for the minds, imaginations and
career ambitions of America's young people, NASA is focused on
engaging and retaining students in STEM education programs to
encourage their pursuit of educational disciplines critical to NASA's
future engineering, scientific and technical missions.

For information about the NASA Explorer Schools Program, visit:

http://explorerschools.nasa.gov

-end-