The Alabama Space Grant Consortium (ASGC) at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of the University of Alabama System, has received a $20,000 donation from the National Space Club (NSC) - Huntsville Chapter to support a 2024-2025 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) K-12 STEM education outreach program. This marks the largest donation the ASGC has ever received from the NSC, laying the groundwork for a long-term K-12 STEM engagement plan that would leverage the ASGC’s connections to eight higher education institutions around the state, including two Historically Black Colleges and Universities, to offer scholarships and fellowships supporting dozens of STEM and education-focused undergraduate and graduate students each year.
“The ASGC is a member of the National Space Club, and our director, Dr. Dale Thomas, met with the two vice chairs for education, Terry Abel of Lockheed Martin and Andy Johnston of Jacobs, for help implementing this student K-12 STEM Engagement Ambassador program,” explains Debora Nielson, associate director of the ASGC/NASA Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. “We had established a student outreach STEM Ambassador program at the ASGC, but we decided to include the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (USSRC) and the National Space Club - Huntsville Chapter as partners moving forward.”
The K-12 Engagement Plan provides teacher professional development and enables ASGC-supported students to act as “outreach ambassadors” in goals related to research, education and workforce development. The program is inspired by a Space/Science/STEM Public Outreach Team (SPOT) “train-the-trainer” model patterned after successful initiatives in Montana and West Virginia. The SPOT model provides a structure for teachers to request ambassadors to visit their schools and deliver a high-quality, standards-based, interactive presentation and/or activities on a variety of themes. Examples include machine learning, rockets and earth science. Industry and business partners can also support the program to help meet outreach goals for the STEM workforce.
The ASGC aims to develop a SPOT model K-12 Education Plan for the 2024-2025 academic year, which will provide materials for outreach kits, science communication training for ambassadors and student stipends, along with travel funds for mileage, meals and lodging. The NSC donation will fund approximately 20 student outreach ambassadors for presentations at high-priority schools, with an anticipated theme of computer science, based on ASGC’s collaboration with the Georgia Space Grant Consortium ML-Bots program and a “Coding at NASA” presentation piloted in Selma last summer. Kit materials will include programmable robots for each of the eight ASGC college campuses and other computer science education materials as required.
The ASGC was formed in 1989 when NASA implemented the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program and is a voluntary association of all seven Research Universities in the state along with other community colleges, educational outreach, industrial and government organizations. Additional key K-12-serving ASGC Partners include the USSRC, the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative and the Black Belt STEM Institute, which help ensure ASGC K-12 efforts to correspond to Alabama educational standards and connect with under-represented and under-served communities.
The National Space Club - Huntsville Chapter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering excellence in space activity through interaction between industry and government, as well as a continuing program of educational support. Through its programs, activities and awards, the Space Club Huntsville works to promote space leadership and education by promoting youth education activities that include scholarships, fellowships, internships and educational programs.
