Media may watch as 30 teachers, including five from a Houston school, learn how to handle moon rocks in their classrooms at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, July 29, as part of a week-long NASA Explorer Schools Program workshop.

The teachers will earn lunar certificates that will allow them to handle encased lunar samples in their classrooms as they conduct science lessons during the coming year. To attend the teachers' Lunar and Meteorite Certification for interview and photo opportunities, contact the JSC Newsroom, 281/483-5111, by noon on Thursday, July 29.

NASA's Explorer Schools Program brings exciting opportunities to educators, administrators, students and families at participating schools by involving them in NASA research, discoveries and missions. This workshop will assist educators in developing a strategic plan to incorporate NASA resources into their classrooms during a three-year partnership with the agency. The goals are to ignite the interest of students in grades four through nine in math and science. Teachers attending represent:

- James Madison High School, High School for Meteorology, Space and Science, Houston
- West Ward Elementary, Killeen, Texas
- G. W. Carver Academy, Waco, Texas
- Jardine Diversified Leadership and Technology Magnet School, Wichita, Kan.
- Circle of Nations School, Wahpeton, N.D.
- Sasakwa in Sasakwa, Okla.

For information about the NASA Explorer Schools Program on the Internet, visit: http://explorerschools.nasa.gov/portal/site/nes/

For more information about NASA on the Internet, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/

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