Tomorrow I leave for Houston, TX and the Johnson Space Center. I'm a participant in the NASA Johnson Space Center Pre-Service Teacher Institute. I'll be in Houston for two weeks learning how to incorporate space and STEM lessons into my curriculum when I'm teaching next year. (STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) It is a highly competitive program with only 30 participants mainly from the Midwest selected to participate, although we do have some people from the East and West coasts as well. I'm the only one from Nebraska and I found out about the program through Creighton and Dr. Houtz, as she is my source for all opportunities related to NASA. She knows I'm crazy about NASA and would like to work there someday. I'm am super excited and don't know how I'll sleep tonight or if it's even worth it as I'm leaving for the airport at 5:45 am tomorrow morning. I have to close the restaurant tonight, then I'm getting together with a few work friends for a low-key good-bye celebration.
The things I'll learn in the institute, the people I meet, and the professional development opportunities I'll encounter will be invaluable to me and my future students. I am extremely privileged to get to go and I'll make sure to update as often as I can (though I might not be able to tell anyone about it until I get back since it is all day long, intense workshops and homework)
So, I'll liftoff for Houston tomorrow morning for the experience of a lifetime! Until then, I leave you with this clip of the nighttime launch of the space shuttle Discovery.
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