April 28, 2008
SCSDB News
South Carolina
School
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Media contacts:
Sharon Goolsby, Public Information Office: (864) 577-7505
Katie Rice, Public
Information Office: (864) 577-7506
SCSDB CELEBRATES SPACE DAYsm 2008
WITH STUDENT
SIGNATURES IN SPACE ®
Student Signatures
in Space (S3) provides elementary and
middle school students the opportunity to send their digitized signatures into
space and feel a personal involvement with the crew and the mission. Jointly sponsored by NASA and Lockheed
Martin, S3 is one program of the
award-winning Space Day educational initiative.
“Our goal with Student
Signatures in Space is to spark kids’ interest in technical studies by
giving them a personal connection to the space program,” said Barbara Reinike,
Space Day program manager for Lockheed Martin.
“Classes usually follow their signatures mission together from launch to
landing, so it really piques the students’ interest in the whole process. Counterpart lesson plans that incorporate
math and science activities help teachers take the learning experience to the
next level.”
To this end, Lockheed Martin provides several space-themed
lesson plans as well as classroom and school-wide activity ideas, which are
featured on the Space Day web site at www.spaceday.org.
“This is a great way for students to be involved and
interested in space and space missions,” said science teacher Kristin
Milner. “The students are so excited
knowing that their signatures will go into space.”
The Space Shuttle mission designated to carry this year’s
signatures has tentatively been identified as STS-126, a flight to the
International Space Station that is scheduled for next fall.
After the signatures return from space, the poster will be
returned for permanent display to SCSDB along with a flight certificate and
picture of the crew that carried the signatures into space.
Since the program began in 1997, nearly 4.5 million students have participated in Student Signatures in Space. There is no cost to schools to participate. However, because of space constraints on each mission, participation is limited to approximately 500 schools each year.
Lockheed Martin is the founding sponsor of Space Day, which takes place on the first Friday of each May. Over the years, the program has evolved into a massive grassroots effort dedicated to the extraordinary achievements, benefits, and opportunities in the exploration and use of space. The ultimate goal is to promote math, science, technology, and engineering education by nurturing young peoples’ enthusiasm for the wonders of the universe and inspiring them to continue the stellar work of today’s space explorers.
This year’s event will be celebrated by hundreds of thousands of
students throughout the world. On
Saturday, May 3, Lockheed Martin will be holding an educational event at the
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington ,
D.C.
For more info on the Student
Signatures in Space program, please contact April Tensen
at (540) 384-7809. For more info about
Space Day, please contact Barbara
Reinike at 301-897-6601. More
information about Space Day is available online at www.spaceday.org.
The SC Department of
Education named SCSDB a