5 in region named Space Foundation Teacher Liaisons

The Colorado-Springs based Space Foundation recently named 20 educators for its 2012 Flight of Teacher Liaisons including seven were selected from Colorado, most of whom call the Pikes Peak region home.

Three teachers are from Colorado Springs School District 11: Cami DeBise of Jack Swigert Aerospace Academy, Jessika Reynolds of GLOBE Charter School and Bret Murray of Space, Technology, and Arts Academy (STAR) Academy.

The others in the region selected for the program are Amber Izzo, Antelope Trails Elementary School in Academy School District 20, and Neva Nardone, Lewis-Palmer Elementary School in Monument, in Lewis-Palmer School District 28.

For the first time in the program's ten-year history, an international teacher from India was chosen for the program. Vandana Suryawanshi of Vidya Valley School in Maharashtra is a middle school educator who has been teaching biology, earth science and general science for 20 years.

Teacher Liaisons were selected by a panel for their active promotion of space and science education. The new flight, announced Monday Jan. 30, will serve as advocates for space-themed education across the curriculum and will use Space Foundation-provided training and resources to further integrate space principles into the classroom.

The 2012 Teacher Liaisons will be recognized at the Space Foundation's 28th National Space Symposium, April 16-19 at The Broadmoor Hotel. The liaisons will participate in workshops and education programs during the conference. Following the symposium, Teacher Liaisons can take advantage of specialized training and instruction at Space Foundation and NASA workshops with optional graduate-level credit; exclusive science, technology, engineering and math professional development experiences with optional continuing education credit; and special space-oriented student programs created just for Teacher Liaisons.