Mission CISD teacher selected for prestigious NASA LiftOff Institute
Mission, Texas - Renae Villalobos, a sixth-grade science teacher from Kenneth White Junior High STEAM Academy has been selected for the prestigious LiftOff Summer Institute program. This nationally competitive program sponsored by NASA’s Texas Space Grant Consortium and the University of Texas Center for Space Research selects teachers who will increase their knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and math through space education.
“I was very excited when I received the email that I had been selected!” Mrs. Villalobos said. “I’m most excited to learn from NASA’s team of scientists and engineers to bring that knowledge back to my students.”
The workshop provides teachers with the unique opportunity to spend a week working with professional scientists and engineers at the cutting edge of space exploration. This year’s LiftOff 2023’s theme is Planetary Defenders.
“My students really love the units on solar systems and space exploration so bringing back that real-life experience will be amazing.” shared Mrs. Villalobos. “There is also an opportunity to become certified in identifying asteroids and meteors through NASA so I would love to bring that experience home to my students and possibly open the idea of that career path for them”.
Nationwide educators selected will come together June 23 – June 30 to conduct experiments, hear from NASA subject matter experts and astronauts, and network with other educators while sharing innovative lesson plans and ideas.
“I’m looking forward to discussing with other educators that were selected around the United States.” Mrs. Villalobos said. “I would like to see how their standards differ from ours, and how they create their lessons and their curriculum.”
LiftOff is a collaborative effort of University of Texas Center for Space Research, Texas Space Grant Consortium members and affiliates, NASA, and industry. The workshops are organized around an aerospace or space science theme drawn from NASA’s diverse engineering and scientific research programs. The weeklong institute features a series of workshops, hands-on activities, field investigations, and presentations by NASA scientists and engineers working on various missions.
The LiftOff workshops prove that the excitement teachers, and more importantly, their students, feel about earth and space science can be used to enrich STEM education and inspire the next generation of explorers.