Limestone Education Students Now Attending NASA Institute

Limestone Professor Dr. Teresa White (second from left in accompanying photo) and a group of four Education students from the College were recently awarded a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Educator Professional Development Collaborative grant.

The grant is allowing White and the students to currently spend five days at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. They are taking part in various activities designed to assist educators in enhancing their Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) instruction.

This is the second consecutive year that Limestone has been represented at the event. The institute, presented by Texas State University on June 4-8, is geared for K-12 pre-service teacher candidates.

The Limestone students now attending include senior Stephanie Beltran, juniors Bailey Rose Hammonds and Chadya Smith, and sophomore Hailey Cleary. White is serving as the faculty sponsor.

Texas State University has a three-year, $3 million cooperative agreement with NASA to present the annual summer institutes.

Funding from NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) provides the opportunity for Minority Serving Institutions to participate in the five-day MUREP Educator Institutes at each of the 10 NASA Centers. Institutes are comprised of student-centered classroom activities that utilize NASA assets and resources to help educators develop instructional practices to enhance STEM instruction for all students.

“This is very significant for Limestone,” White explained. “We’re preparing our teachers for the 21st century. We understand that STEM is everywhere, but often there is a gap in these areas between genders and ethnicities. As a college, we want to focus on STEM and try to solve a real social issue. It’s critical that we prepare our teachers to help the next generation of innovators.”