Inkster School Hosts NASA Officials for Educational Event

CLEVELAND — NASA representatives, including Glenn’s center director Ramon Lugo III, will kick off a day of activities at Blanchette Middle School in Inkster, Mich., on Dec. 3 at 8:30 a.m. EST.

As part of NASA’s initiative to engage students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, the event will also feature Inkster native Woodrow Whitlow, Jr., associate administrator for Mission Support at NASA Headquarters and former Glenn director.

Also encouraging students to pursue careers in math and science will be Robyn N. Gordon, director of Glenn’s Center Operations Directorate and astronaut Michael J. Foreman, currently serving as chief of External Programs at Glenn.

A group of 5th – 8th grade girls will participate in the event in the morning, while a group of boys and girls in 3rd – 5th grade will benefit from a repeat of the program in the afternoon, starting at 1 p.m. Both morning and afternoon sessions will include a talk by Cynthia Calhoun, chief of the Program and Project Assurance Division at Glenn.

The day’s events will focus on career and employability skills, with an emphasis on developing problem-solving and teamwork skills.

At 10 a.m. the older students will participate in an educational science project to build a simulated solar powered water heater that could operate in space. The younger students will learn about the moon in a 2:15 p.m. activity involving a light source as the sun, themselves as Earth and a “moon on a stick.”

News media wishing to attend this event should contact Katherine Martin or the Media Relations Office at 216-433-2901 by 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 2.

For information about NASA’s education programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education