Training Workshop for Afterschool Universe Astronomy Program

Afterschool Universe is a hands-on astronomy program targeting middle school settings outside regular school hours. It explores basic astronomy concepts through hands-on activities and focuses on a journey through the universe beyond the solar system.

A free, two-day training workshop is being held on Sept. 10-11, 2009 in Oakland, Calif. This training will prepare participants to lead the program or train others to do so. This training workshop is being held in the Bay area just prior to the annual meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (http://www.astrosociety.org/events/meeting.html). So if you are already traveling to California, come out early and join us to expand your astronomy programming toolkit!

All attendees who complete the training will receive a printed and bound copy of the program manual at the end of the workshop. Most of the materials to run the program are easily available at grocery stores and craft supplies stores. Those who commit to run the program for the target audience will receive access to a password-protected Web site that has additional resources to help with the implementation.

This workshop is open to all who are interested in offering an astronomy program for 6th-8th graders outside regular school hours. Registration for this training session is due Aug. 28, 2009. Register by visiting http://universe.nasa.gov/au/register.html .

For more information about the program, visit http://universe.nasa.gov/afterschool/ .