NASA Summer of Innovation Program Engages Cincinnati Students
CLEVELAND — Veteran astronaut Mike Foreman will visit summer school students at three Cincinnati, Ohio schools on Friday, June 25. His visits are in support of NASA’s Summer of Innovation program, an initiative designed to stimulate students’ interests in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM.
Foreman, who is serving for one year as chief of External Programs at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, will participate in an activity called “Movin’ in the Mornin'” with approximately 70 first through eighth grade students at Old Douglas School at 8:45 a.m. This activity, designed to promote physical fitness, is part of Project Connect which is a summer camp for children experiencing homelessness.
Foreman will then share his experiences in space with 225 first through eighth graders enrolled in Fifth Quarter at Pleasant Hill School at 10:30 a.m. He will also be at Taylor School at 1:15 p.m. where an additional 150 first through eighth graders will participate. Fifth Quarter is a program that helps close the achievement gap between low-income and more economically advantaged students.
A native of Wadsworth, Ohio, Foreman was selected to join the astronaut corps in 1998. A veteran of two space flights, Foreman flew on STS-123 in March 2008, and STS-129 in November 2009, and has logged over 637 hours in space, including 32 hours and 19 minutes during five spacewalks.
The NASA Summer of Innovation program will engage thousands of middle school students in STEM activities using NASA content during the summer months when many students experience what’s known as the “summer slide,” a loss of skills acquired during the school year. The program is a cornerstone of the Educate to Innovate campaign announced by President Obama last November.
Both Project Connect and Fifth Quarter are Cincinnati Public Schools-sponsored programs.
Reporters interested in attending any of these programs may contact Janet Walsh, director of public affairs for the Cincinnati Public Schools. She may be reached by phone at 513-363-0023 or 513-207-8181.
For more information about NASA’s Summer of Innovation program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/soi
For more information on NASA’s broad education programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education
For more information about Foreman, visit: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/foreman.html
