Every sixth-grade student in Etowah County Schools will have the opportunity to fly a simulated space mission and participate in hands-on STEM activities at no cost through a new partnership with the Challenger Learning Center of Northeast Alabama.
The Teacher in Residence partnership will place Etowah County teacher Wes Weems at Challenger for the academic year, where he will work with center staff to lead mission training and STEM programming.
The partnership also will provide teacher training and STEM outreach for Etowah County educators, helping extend Challenger’s mission-based learning into district classrooms.
“This partnership means every one of our sixth graders gets the chance to experience the kind of hands-on, immersive learning that makes STEM come alive,” Etowah County Schools Superintendent Julie Talton said. “Having one of our own teachers embedded at Challenger for the year means that experience won’t stop at the mission simulator; it will carry back into our classrooms.”
Weems, a veteran Etowah County Schools teacher, will bring his classroom experience to the center while helping connect Challenger programming with instruction across the district.
“A Teacher in Residence gives us a direct line between what happens inside Challenger and what happens inside an ECBOE classroom,” Challenger Executive Director Farrah Hayes said. “Wes brings a teacher’s perspective into how we train and support students on mission day.”
Challenger board Chairman Tony Smith said the partnership ensures cost will not prevent students from participating.
“Removing cost as a barrier means every sixth grader in Etowah County, not just the ones whose schools can afford a field trip, gets access to this experience,” Smith said.
The Challenger Learning Center of Northeast Alabama provides space-mission simulations and STEM education programs in partnership with Jacksonville State University’s College of Educational and Professional Studies.
Submitted by The Challenger Learning Center.
