KSC-04pd2055

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - While visiting Immokalee Middle School in Naples, Fla., Center Director Jim Kennedy (far left) and astronaut Terry Virts (fourth from left) pose for a photo with school staff members. Second from left is the principal, Lisa Scallon. Immokalee is part of NASA’s Explorer School (NES) Program and is teamed with Pine Ridge Middle School. Kennedy visited the school to share the vision for space exploration with the next generation of explorers. He is talking with students about our destiny as explorers, NASA’s stepping stone approach to exploring Earth, the Moon, Mars and beyond, how space impacts our lives, and how people and machines rely on each other in space. NES establishes a three-year partnership annually between NASA and 50 NASA Explorer Schools teams, consisting of teachers and education administrators from diverse communities nationwide.