The Muscogee County School District is one of 14 school districts participating in a national effort to provide teachers with a unique STEM-focused professional development opportunity with the SETI Institute.  As a result, two Columbus High teachers, Luther Richardson and Laura Solomons, have been named to the 2019 class of the SETI Institute’s NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program.

Richardson and Solomons will join 26 other high school science teachers at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Hangar 703, in Palmdale, California, for a week-long immersion in astrophysics and planetary science as well as content and pedagogy. The program will culminate with flights onboard NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft.

According to the SETI Institute, the NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassador Program was one of the 27 organizations from across the United States selected by NASA for cooperative agreement awards to implement a new strategic approach to more effectively engage learners of all ages on NASA science education programs and activities.