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First African-American Spacewalker Speaks at National Conference |
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NIA News Release 2007-03
February 8, 2007
(HAMPTON, Va.) – NASA and the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) will host the 12th Annual Pre-Service Teacher Conference February 15-17, 2007 at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center, in Alexandria, Va.
Former Astronaut Bernard Harris Jr. will kick off the conference as the keynote speaker February 15th. Harris was the payload commander on shuttle flight STS-63, the first flight of a new joint Russian-American Space Program in 1995. During the flight, Harris became the first African-American to walk in space. He completed 129 orbits and traveled over 2.9 million miles during his career as an astronaut.
This national conference will host approximately 300 prospective elementary and middle school teachers and faculty advisors from 50 member institutions representing Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) and selected majority institutions.
During the conference, students and faculty will be exposed to invigorating general sessions, 60 hands-on workshops and a judged poster session. The conference also includes a career fair where students have the opportunity to interview with recruiters from approximately 34 school districts as well as graduate schools from across the country.
Networking opportunities are provided for the prospective teachers and faculty to exchange experiences. As an important extension of the conference, the teachers-to-be are able to apply for the limited spaces available at Pre-Service Teacher Institutes held in the summer at various sites across the country.
The conference was created to help undergraduate education students develop the confidence and skills to effectively teach mathematics and science using cutting-edge technology and educational materials only NASA can provide.
The Pre-Service Teacher Program is a partnership between NASA, NIA and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. NIA is a non-profit research and graduate education institute formed by a consortium of research universities to ensure a national capability to support NASA’s mission by expanding collaboration with academia and leveraging expertise inside and outside NASA. NIA performs research in a broad range of disciplines including space exploration, systems engineering, nanoscale materials science, flight systems, aerodynamics, air traffic management, aviation safety, planetary and space science, and global climate change. The institute’s graduate program offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in the fields of engineering and science through its university partners: Georgia Tech, Hampton University, North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina State University, the University of Maryland, the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Old Dominion University, and the College of William & Mary.
For more information about the Pre-Service Teacher Conference, visit http://research.nianet.org/pstc/.
For more information about the National Institute of Aerospace, visit http://www.nianet.org.
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