As a teacher, summer is looked upon as a time of renewal, reflection, and relaxation.  Thus far, I have had time for each, as well as continuing my involvement in teaching.  Late in June I was on staff at the Delaware AeroSpace Education Foundation’s (www.dasef.org) Space Academy at the University of Delaware.  This program is headed up by a remarkable person - Dr. Stephanie Wright.  She was part of the original ‘Teacher in Space’ program, and has dedicated her time and energy to creating opportunities for children (and educators) to learn about aviation and aerospace.  The Space Academy programs started by Dr. Wright nineteen years ago, offer learning experiences for children of all ages.  If you live in the Delaware area, be sure to check out the website.





This week I was involved in running a workshop for teachers.  It was a great group from my district, with an interest in and enthusiasm for space exploration.  Several of the teachers who attended had been involved in celebrating Mars back in the springtime, with a special focus on Phoenix.  They found that students were very excited about the red planet, and we are hoping that each year more of our teachers come on board to learn more about Mars.








Today’s workshop, Motivating Students through Space Exploration Activities, included making kites, learning about the culture of NASA mission patches, ‘astronaut training’ activities (working with gloves), and finding out more about extravehicular activities (EVA) or space walks.  We also talked about the upcoming Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, STS-125/SM4, LRO, and returning to the moon.  Working with my colleagues is a very rewarding experience.  We are all learners together, and as I share my knowledge and activities, the ‘participants’ build on ideas presented with their own thoughts for variations on the theme, and how to integrate what I share into their own curriculum.  They came away with new enthusiasm, lessons and activities, and I came away with additional ideas for use in my classroom as well.