MOUNTAIN VIEW, Ca. (ABC4) – The SETI Institute has selected 30 teachers from 10 states as 2021 NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (AAA), Sunday.

According to a SETI institute press release, two of the thirty teachers selected reign from Utah.

AAA is a professional development program for science teachers designed to improve science teaching and increase student learning and STEM engagement. This year’s expanded AAA program includes not only high school teachers but also middle school and community college teachers.

“Over its history, our NASA-funded AAA program has impacted tens of thousands of high school students through the immersive and inspirational experience of their teachers,” shares Bill Diamond, CEO of the SETI Institute. “This powerful STEM program will allow the SETI Institute to help bring NASA science into classrooms across the country.”

According to the press release, AAA teachers receive training in astrophysics and planetary science. Their training includes a week-long STEM immersion experience at a NASA astronomy research facility such as the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). After their training, the AAAs teach a physical science curriculum module created by the SETI Institute that connects curriculum concepts to NASA- and SOFIA-enabled research.  WestEd education consultants assess the impact of the specialized curriculum module on student STEM learning and engagement. Past evaluations of the AAA program have shown statistically significant improvements in performance and STEM engagement among students whose teachers participated in the program.

“We are grateful that NASA will be funding the AAA program through 2025 and are especially excited to be adding middle school and community college teachers and their students,” shares Dr. Dana Backman, AAA program lead. “These teachers will use their professional development and SOFIA experiences to convey real-world content to their students that illuminate the value of scientific research and the wide variety of STEM career paths available to them.”

The school districts and organizations participating in the AAA program during 2021 are:
Anaheim Union High School District, California
Anchorage School District, Alaska
Anne Arundel Community College, Maryland
Canyons School District, Utah
Chabot College, California
Cobb County Schools, Georgia
Fayette County Public Schools, Kentucky
Foothill-DeAnza Community College District, California
Fort Zumwalt School District, Missouri
Harmony Public Schools, Texas
William S. Hart Union High School District, California
MiraCosta Community College District, California
Northside Independent School District (San Antonio), Texas
San Mateo Community College District, California
Suffolk County Community College, New York
The Meadows School, Nevada
Washoe County School District, Nevada

The 30 teachers selected as 2021 Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors are listed and pictured below:

  • Beverly Berekian, Ball Junior High School, Anaheim, California
  • Alicia Black, Dubray Middle School, Saint Peters, Missouri
  • Frank Cascarano, Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California
  • Frank Cascarano, Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California
  • Clief Castleton, Hillcrest High School, Midvale, Utah
  • Fernando Cepeda, Harmony Science Academy – Dallas High, Dallas, Texas
  • Erik Conkey, North Valleys High School, Reno, Nevada
  • Dana Evans, Walton High School, Marietta, Georgia
  • Rica French, MiraCosta College, Oceanside, California
  • Marisa Heflin, Arroyo Seco Junior High School, Santa Clarita, California
  • Scott Hildreth, Chabot College, Hayward, California
  • Kathleen Kraus, Wallace B. Jefferson Middle School, San Antonio, Texa
  • Deborah Levine, Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, Maryland
  • David Marasco, Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California
  • Stephen Martin, Damonte Ranch High School, Reno, Nevada
  • Linda Martinez, Harmony Science Academy – San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas
  • Geoffrey Mathews, Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California
  • Jenny McCall, Winburn Middle School, Lexington, Kentucky
  • Tami McIntire, Palmer Middle School, Kennesaw, Georgia
  • Milo Maughan, Corner Canyon High School, Draper, Utah
  • Jason Patterson, Clark Middle School, Anchorage, Alaska
  • Zachary Richards, Suffolk County Community College, Brentwood, New York
  • Richard Rochin, Brookhurst Junior High School, Anaheim, California
  • Erin Schneider, Goldenview Middle School, Anchorage, Alaska
  • Darryl Stanford, College of San Mateo, San Mateo, California
  • Scott Trujillo, The Meadows School, Las Vegas, Nevada
  • Shelley Turski, La Mesa Junior High School, Santa Clarita, California
  • Shannon Ventresca, East Cobb Middle School, Marietta, Georgia
  • Stacy Wade-Robb, Rio Norte Junior High School, Santa Clarita, California
  • Pamela Word, Jay High School, San Antonio, Texas

SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP aircraft modified to carry a telescope with an effective diameter of 100 inches. It is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center, DLR. NASA Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley manages the SOFIA program, science, and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research Association headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, and the German SOFIA Institute (DSI) at the University of Stuttgart. The aircraft is maintained and operated from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center’s airborne science facility in Palmdale, Calif.
 

AAA teachers inside SOFIA
Two groups of AAA teachers with their flight facilitators in front of SOFIA on the tarmac at NASA’s airborne science facility in Palmdale, Calif. (NASA / SETI Institute)


About the Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program: The SETI Institute’s NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (AAA) program is one of ~30 awards to U.S. organizations competitively selected by NASA under the Science Activation program. These cooperative agreements more effectively engage learners of all ages with NASA science. Selections were made by the agency’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) in Washington, DC.  The AAA program is funded under NASA SMD NNX16AC51A. The NASA AAA program began in 2016.

About the SETI Institute

Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary research and education organization whose mission is to explore, understand, and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe and the evolution of intelligence. Our research encompasses the physical and biological sciences and leverages expertise in data analytics, machine learning and advanced signal detection technologies. The SETI Institute is a distinguished research partner for industry, academia and government agencies, including NASA and NSF.