Copiague Middle School mathematics teacher Melody Cesare was the recipient of a scholarship to attend the Space Academy for Educators at the United States Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama for a weeklong astronaut training this past June. The academy is a training program for teachers to learn new and innovative techniques to educate their students about science and math. To date, 995 teachers from 34 countries and 49 states have already graduated from the program. Ms. Cesare joined 272 teachers from 19 countries and 45 states this June, and became a part of the program’s Class of 2009.“In 1986, during my interviews to become a teacher, I was asked what I pictured myself doing 20 years from then; I told them I wanted to be teaching in space, or at least part of the space program,” stated Mrs. Cesare. “That didn't exactly come true, but this was a close second. I had the educational experience of a lifetime! It was really a dream come true.”
During her weeklong adventure, Mrs. Cesare participated in classroom, laboratory, and field training exercises. She had the unique opportunity to participate in astronaut training, including a high-performance jet simulation, scenario-based space missions, land and water survival training, and state-of-the-art flight dynamics programs.
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