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WG3K > ANS 20.04.25 08:11z 15 Lines 1736 Bytes #20 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : ANS110.8
Read: GUEST
Subj: JPL Lays Off Its K-12 Education Team
Path: SR8BBS<SR4BBX<DB0RES<DB0ERF<DK0WUE<PI8ZTM<PI8LAP<K5DAT<WW6Q<WG3K
Sent: 250420/0045Z 16483@WG3K.#SMD.MD.USA.NOAM LinBPQ6.0.24
For years, the K-12 education team at NASAâÖs Jet Propulsion Laboratory worked to get students to see themselves. Now teachers lament how to fill the gap.
The team made hundreds of lesson plans around major space events. They facilitated workshops for teachers, created a high school internship, took meteor rocks to local campuses, and much, much more. All of these activities were meant to foster the next generation of STEM professionals.
In 2018, JPL's K-12 education team was part of a group that won an Emmy for its
coverage of the Cassini mission's Grand Finale at Saturn. (Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)
But during the latest round of layoffs at JPL, the tiny team was among the 325 let go. And though some parts of the educational program remain, educators across the country mourn what was lost.
The program was for teachers, by teachers. Three of the K-12 education teamâÖs four members are former classroom teachers. That experience helped them know what to do âö and what not to do âö to make their materials useful. âWe wanted to make sure that teachers didn't have to figure out how to get our stuff in,â said Ota Lutz, former manager for STEM elementary and secondary education, and a former math teacher.
The education team served as a pipeline, taking the missions, discoveries, and engineering innovations that happened at JPL and turning them into resources for teachers.
The teamâÖs efforts proved fruitful. The JPL education website âdrove about 30% of [the research centerâÖs] annual web traffic, to the tune of about a little over two million visits annually,â Lutz said. Read the complete story at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-110-JPL-K12-Education.
[ANS thanks laist.com for the above information.]
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