Blast Back to School Recognizes Anne Beers as NASA Explorer School

NASA will kick-off the participation of a local elementary school in the NASA Explorer Schools Program on September 30 when Agency representatives, local officials, fifth and six grade students, teachers and parents converge on Anne Beers Elementary School in Washington DC.

The "Blast Back To School" event begins 9 a.m. in the school auditorium.

Former Anne Beers principal, Connie Hollingsworth, NASA Educator Astronaut Program Manager speaks at Anne Beers Explorer School ceremony.

Invited guest will include astronaut Don Pettit, NASA's International Space Station science officer on Expedition 6, and NASA Headquarters representative and former Anne Beers principal Connie Hollingsworth.

Anne Beers is one of only 50 schools competitively selected schools from across the country representing 30 state s. This is a major new education initiative for NASA created to spark innovative science and mathematics instruction directed specifically at students in grades 5 through 8.

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

Anne Beers Elementary School is located in a middle class residential neighborhood in the District. It was opened in 1942 as a tribute to Anne Duvall Beers, one of the first women to serve in an important administrative position in the District of Columbia Public School System.

Anne Beers began its venture into aerospace education via the support of former Congressman, Louis Stokes of Ohio in 1998. He, in turn, connected the school with key people in NASA education at both NASA Goddard and NASA Glenn. A team of teachers from the school then participated in the NASA Educators Workshop at NASA Goddard.

Within two years, this innovative team had developed an after school program with SEMAA, integrated aerospace science education heavily into the curriculum, established a distance learning program with Orchard School of Science in Cleveland, Ohio and written a curriculum for use in a planetarium. Beers has an in-school planetarium and with the assistance of Space Explorers, has a shuttle simulator whereas students can "launch" and "land" a space shuttle. Last year, Anne Beers showcased an air to space museum to the community at large.

To date, a number of Beers students and teachers have "lived" an aerospace science experience. They have had opportunities to visit NASA Goddard in Maryland, NASA Glenn and Wright Patterson, AFB, both in Ohio, NASA Flight Facility at Wallops Island in Virginia and Space Camps in both Florida and Alabama.