By Ruth-Ellen Cohen, Bangor Daily News, Maine Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Dec. 2--BANGOR, Maine -- Ellen Holmes, a fourth-grade teacher at Fairmount School who was involved with the new Challenger Learning Center of Maine, is leaving next month to work for NASA.
Holmes said this week that she has taken a position as program manager for the nation's space program, developing materials for middle school educators to teach math and science concepts using NASA technology.
She will be based at the Langley Research Center in Norfolk, Va., responsible for developing video and Web resources as well as printed material for teachers and students.
Holmes, whose last day will be Dec. 22, said her time in Bangor has been special.
'I've really fallen in love with the children -- and their families -- here at Fairmount. The colleagues I work with are just tremendous,' she said.
Her first assignment will be in Cozumel, Mexico, where she will oversee a film crew documenting how archaeologists use satellite data to track changes in the Mayan ruins that have resulted from climate conditions and the movement of the Earth's crust.
She also will work with NASCAR to develop a series of materials that showcase the math, science, engineering and technology involved in the sport of auto racing. Many of the technologies used in NASCAR are used by NASA.
Holmes said she has been interested in space since she was a young student, inspired by her science teachers from Warsaw Middle School in Pittsfield where she grew up.
As a teacher, she came to realize that space studies can be a 'powerful tool' to pique young learners' interest in math and science.
In 2001, she was one of 50 educators nationwide selected to participate in a NASA educator workshop in which teachers received training on how to live and work in space. The following summer she led that program at the Kennedy Space Center.
This past summer she was selected to be a 'NASA Educator Ambassador' and was sent to Sonoma State University in California to receive training in astrophysics and nuclear physics. The goal was to train educators to use NASA data from the Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope set to launch in early 2006.
In September, Holmes helped launch the state's only official NASA Educational Resource Center at the Challenger Learning Center on Cleveland Avenue across from the Bangor International Airport. Now educational materials and professional development opportunities can be offered to teachers throughout Maine free of charge.
As a result of her connection to NASA, Holmes has brought a number of unique resources to Maine. She has provided professional development workshops for educators, mediated live satellite links to the International Space Station, and brought astronauts, space vehicle engineers and space experts into area classrooms.
Holmes, who has taught in Bangor schools for 12 years, said leaving would be tough.
'But it's like being drafted by the NBA -- it's hard to say no to your dream.'
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