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| |  | | | | NASA Explorer School Team Visits Fairmont Facility
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07.13.04
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Dewayne Washington
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
(Phone: 301/286-0040)
Release: 04-34
Recently the 2004 NASA Explorer School (NES) team from Mt. View Middle School in Welch, WV, traveled to the NASA Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Facility in Fairmont, WV. The visit provided an opportunity for the educators to explore the resources and support that is available to them through the IV&V Facility's Educational Outreach Program.
According to Donald Hairston, the school NES team leader, the visit was an explorer mission to find out just what NASA had to offer. "We were impressed with the first class treatment we received and the opportunities NASA will make available to us as an Explorer School. All of us at the school are very excited and proud to be named the first NASA Explorer School in the state of West Virginia."
NASA's IV&V, a systems and software engineering facility, is home to a Community Outreach Program which includes a NASA Educator Resource Center (ERC) and a Student Outreach Program. The NASA Explorer School team learned about the role this program can play in the development and success of their NES objectives at Mt. View.
The Mt. View Middle School team expressed an interest in teacher professional development courses, and is planning with the ERC staff to schedule specific topic trainings. Additionally, the NES team is in need of support for career fairs, speakers for the classrooms, and student activities. The Student Outreach program at the facility will coordinate with the NES team to provide representatives for these activities. The facility staff has extended an invitation to Mt. View's seventh-grade class to attend a special event this September at the Fairmont facility.
Also during the visit the NES team shared their success stories with IV&V staff and explained why they felt the NES program could improve the achievement of their students. With over 80 percent of students at Mt. View Middle School eligible for the free and reduced lunch program, the economic challenges of the area are unavoidable. Members of the Mt. View Middle School team are working to make a difference with the full support and assistance of the NASA Explorer School program and the NASA Independent Verification and Validation Facility.
For more information about NASA's IV&V facility, please visit their web site at http://www.ivv.nasa.gov.
For more information about NASA's Explorer School Program, please visit their web site at http://explorerschools.nasa.gov.
For information about NASA Education programs, please visit their web site at http://education.nasa.gov.
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