NASA Awards McREL for Outstanding
Service and Support
October 14, 2003
Aurora, Colo. —
NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will
distinguish McREL
(Mid-continent Research in Education and Learning) for its sustained
and extraordinary performance of public outreach and education with
a Public Service Group Achievement Award in a ceremony in October.
McREL and members of its Education and Public
Outreach team have worked on NASA’s Genesis project since
it began in 1998 to produce a comprehensive educational and public
outreach plan that was based on national educational standards and
supported the NASA objectives. The Genesis spacecraft was launched
on August 8, 2001, on a million-mile mission to collect pieces of
the sun, called solar wind, which scientists will study when the
spacecraft returns to Earth in 2004. For more on the spacecraft
and mission, visit www.genesismission.org.
McREL is a Colorado-based research and education organization that
provides schools, teachers, and parents with practical, proven solutions
to the challenges in education today. McREL’s expertise in
developing standards-based multi-media educational modules and delivering
them via the Web gives schools and communities nationwide access
to science activities and programs that help them learn from the
work of top scientists at the cutting edge of space exploration.
“The McREL team has been ingenious, creative,
dedicated and energetic in its approach while also using cost
effective methods,”
said a NASA representative.
In a second recognition, NASA’s Office
of Space Science lauded a McREL-designed science education module
as “an outstanding representation of Earth and space science
education material.” The module, titled “Collaborative
Decision Making: NASA’s Deep Impact Mission,” gives
students the opportunity to meet the challenges of collaborating
as a team to put a successful mission into space.
For the challenges to be real and current, McREL
creates materials that require inquiry, problem solving, and team
work. The module will be presented at a national training session
in November at NASA Langley Research Center.
In 2002, McREL delivered services to clients in 40 states and
seven foreign countries and had annual revenues of more than $11
million. McREL has worked with a wide array of clients to create
learning materials that broaden students’ horizons.
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McREL is a nationally recognized, private, nonprofit organization
located in Aurora, Colo., dedicated to improving education for all
students through applied research, product development and service.
Its staff of highly respected educators and researchers focuses
on providing educators and policymakers with the highest quality,
field-tested, research-based products and services available in
PreK–16 education.
