RAINBOW CITY, AL — Every sixth-grade student in Etowah County Schools will have the opportunity to participate in a simulated space mission and hands-on STEM activities at no cost through a new partnership between the Challenger Learning Center of Northeast Alabama and the Etowah County Schools Board of Education.
The partnership establishes a Teacher in Residence program for the academic year, with Etowah County educator Wes Weems assigned to work at the Challenger Learning Center alongside its staff. Weems will assist with mission training, student programming and other STEM education initiatives throughout the year.
In exchange for the district’s participation in the Teacher in Residence program, all sixth-grade students enrolled in Etowah County Schools will be able to take part in a simulated space mission and accompanying STEM activities at the center without a cost to students or their families.
The partnership will also provide teacher training and STEM outreach opportunities for Etowah County educators, with the goal of extending the Challenger Learning Center’s mission-based approach beyond visits to the facility and into classrooms throughout the school district.
“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 brings several years of classroom experience to the Teacher in Residence position. According to the Challenger Learning Center, his role will include working directly with students during mission training while also serving as a connection between the center’s programming and educators within Etowah County Schools.
“A Teacher in Residence gives us a direct line between what happens inside Challenger and what happens inside an ECBOE classroom,” Challenger Learning Center of Northeast Alabama Executive Director Dr. Farrah Hayes said. “Wes brings a teacher’s perspective into how we train and support students on mission day, and he’ll carry what he learns here back to his colleagues through our teacher training programs.”
The arrangement is intended to provide students across the district with equal access to the Challenger experience regardless of an individual school’s ability to fund a field trip.
“This is exactly the kind of partnership Challenger was built for,” Challenger Learning Center of Northeast Alabama Board of Directors Chairman Tony Smith said. “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.”
The Teacher in Residence initiative is part of the Challenger Learning Center’s broader effort to expand access to its mission simulations and STEM education programming throughout its Northeast Alabama service area.
The Challenger Learning Center of Northeast Alabama provides simulated space missions and STEM education programs for students, educators and community groups. The center operates in partnership with Jacksonville State University’s College of Educational and Professional Studies.
