John C. Stennis Space Center educators and area teachers partnered together during a professional development workshop Oct. 20 to learn about the LEGO Bricks in Space curriculum issued by NASA. The curriculum is designed to encourage students in areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The Stennis Space Center Educator Resource Center hosted the workshop to equip teachers of grades 3-12.

The John C. Stennis Space Center Educator Resource Center hosted an Oct. 20 workshop to equip teachers of grades 3 through 12 in using the LEGO Bricks in Space curriculum issued by NASA. Participants in the professional development workshop built their own LEGO simple machine prototypes and explored the engineering principles that make them work (on Earth and in space).

Mississippi educators participated in a variety of hands-on activities, including rocketry, robotics, and NASA's BEST (Beginning Engineering, Science, and Technology) during a pair of during a pair of professional development workshops conducted by Stennis Space Center educators in June. On June 14, Stennis educators presented workshops to 96 kindergarten-through-12th-grade science teachers and eight Jackson State University faculty, as part of JSU's Project MAST (Mississippi Academy for Science Teaching) Project. On June 21, educators presented workshops in Starkville to 43 fourth-through-eighth-grade science teachers as part of Mississippi State University's Advancing Teachers of Middle School Science initiative.

David Lalejini, an employee of the Naval Research Laboratory at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, helps a pair of teachers deploy a remotely-operated underwater Sea Perch robot during workshop activities Dec. 11. The Stennis Education Office teamed with Naval Research Laboratory counterparts to conduct a two-day workshop Dec. 10-11 for Louisiana and Mississippi teachers. During the no-cost workshop, teachers learned to build and operate Sea Perch robots. The teachers now can take the Sea Perch Program back to students.

The Pre-Service Teachers Institute sponsored by Jackson (Miss.) State University participated in an agencywide Hubble Space Telescope workshop at Stennis Space Center on July 18. Twenty-five JSU junior education majors participated in the workshop, a site tour and educational presentations by Karma Snyder of the NASA SSC Engineering & Safety Center and Anne Peek of the NASA SSC Deputy Science & Technology Division.

Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, a member of von Braun's original German rocket team who directed the Research Projects Office, spoke about the importance of teachers in his life during a reception honoring educators attending the NASA Student Launch Initiative Rocketry Workshop at the Marshall Space Flight Center in July, 2003.

Through Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Education Department, over 400 MSFC employees have volunteered to support educational program during regular work hours. Project LASER (Learning About Science, Engineering, and Research) provides support for mentor/tutor requests, education tours, classroom presentations, and curriculum development. This program is available to teachers and students living within commuting distance of the NASA/MSFC in Huntsville, Alabama (approximately 50-miles radius). This image depicts students viewing their reflections in an x-ray mirror with Marshall optic engineer Vince Huegele at the Discovery Laboratory, which is an onsite MSFC laboratory facility that provides hands-on educational workshop sessions for teachers and students learning activities.