Find a MESSENGER Educator Fellow
Download the MESSENGER Educator Fellow list! (PDF/52 KB)

The MESSENGER Education and Outreach Program Team has implemented a nationwide teacher training initiative whereby a cadre of thirty Fellows—master science teachers at the elementary, middle, and high school levels—will conduct educator workshops nationally, training up to 27,000 grade preK through 12 educators over the mission’s lifetime. Fellows will train educators on concept- based, inquiry-driven lessons developed by the MESSENGER education team. These standards-based science lessons address Solar System science, planetary observations through history, and the engineering associated with building and sending a spacecraft to another world. As educators, this is your chance to make a real impact in preK through 12 communities.

Use the Find a Fellow contact list to find a highly trained and enthusiastic MESSENGER Educator Fellow in your area to set up a professional development workshop. This is an excellent opportunity to increase your knowledge of the MESSENGER mission and to gain inquiry-based, hands-on science lessons for the classroom! Please feel free to use the MESSENGER Educator Fellowship Overview (Word/24 KB) to share this exciting opportunity with your community and school district.

Find a Solar System Ambassador

The Solar System Ambassadors Program is a public outreach program designed to work with motivated volunteers across the nation. These volunteers communicate the excitement of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) space exploration missions and information about recent discoveries to people in their local communities.

There are now 374 Ambassadors in 50 states as well as Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., bringing the excitement of space to the public. Ambassadors are space enthusiasts from various walks of life who are interested in providing greater service and inspiration to the community at large. The Solar System Ambassadors are briefed on all of JPL’s missions and are an excellent community resource for planning MESSENGER celebration events.

The Solar System Ambassadors Program is sponsored by JPL in Pasadena, CA, an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and a lead research and development center for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

To find a Solar System Ambassador near you, visit http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/ambassador/usstates.html.

Find a Challenger Learning Center

A visit to a Challenger Learning Center isn't just a field trip—it's a learning experience that engages students, transforming them into scientists, engineers or researchers on a simulated space mission.

The internationally acclaimed Challenger Learning Center Network currently consists of state-of-the-art, innovative educational simulators located at 51 sites across 29 states, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Staffed by master teachers, the core of each Center is a two-room simulator, consisting of a space station, complete with communications, medical, life, and computer science equipment, and a mission control room patterned after NASA's Johnson Space Center.

In addition to the simulated space missions, each Challenger Learning Center offers other educational programs. All of the programs conducted at the Challenger Learning Centers utilize the same robust educational model that emphasizes educational content, cooperative learning, problem-solving, and responsible decision-making. Contact a Challenger Learning Center near you for a schedule of their events, including possible MESSENGER celebrations.

To find a Challenger Learning Center near you, visit http://www.challenger.org/clc/clc_netw_set.htm.

To learn how to become a Challenger Learning Center Community, please call 1-800-FOR-A-CLC or send an email to info@challenger.org.