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On behalf of NOAA's Teacher at Sea program (TAS), I would like to welcome you to the NOAA Teacher at Sea Association (TASA). Because you participated in our program, you are automatically eligible for membership, and in the next few paragraphs, I will explain what this means for you and the program. With its inception in 1990, NOAA's Teacher at Sea Program held the promise of offering educators around the country the opportunity to see NOAA's exciting scientific research first hand. It began to fulfill this promise by having one teacher participate in 1990 and two teachers in 1991. After passing the pilot phase of the program, NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations (NMAO) management expanded the program to more teachers and greater education opportunities. In the past 13 years, over 325 teachers have participated in the program, representing 46 States, American Samoa, and Argentina. For the last 13 years, the management of the program has been successful in many ways: the number of applicants increased, the number of teachers participating increased, and recognition of the program also increased. However, when Rear Admiral Evelyn Fields was appointed as NMAO Director in 1999, she recognized that the NOAA Teacher at Sea Program had potential to reach a greater audience of students and educators and be more representative of NOAA's overall mission. In 2001, RADM Fields supported an informal partnership between NOAA's Teacher at Sea Program, NOAA's Office of Global Programs (OGP), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). With this partnership, came tremendous expansion of the program, and more importantly, greater opportunities for teachers and students: included financial sponsorship, daily Web presence, live broadcasts from the ship, and day-to-day interaction with students and teachers around the world. In seeing the success in this partnership and the program, RADM Fields created an Education and Teacher at Sea Program Manager position at NMAO, which I am fortunate to represent. I have worked with NOAA for 6 years and worked closely with the NOAA Teacher at Sea program over the last 2 years. I also used to teach at a high school in Maryland. As the NOAA TAS Program manager, one of my primary goals is to enhance and expand the Teacher at Sea Program. The first step in this process is communicating with you and establishing our Teacher at Sea Association. Our TASA will provide you the opportunity to communicate with your peers and share resources. It will also be a vehicle for identifying unique opportunities for you and your students to partner with NOAA and our exciting research projects. Here are just some of the advantages of being a member of TASA:
In order to establish the association, we first need to update our database. When you have time, please complete the attached form and fax it to 301-713-1541 (electronic version available on http://www.tas.noaa.gov/tasa; e-mail it to jennifer.hammond@noaa.gov ). Once the database is up to date, I would like to contact you for your input about the TASA. The first 30 teachers that submit their updated information will receive a prize. The Teacher at Sea Association is your association and is only in the beginning phases of development; we hope that you are interested in playing a key role in its establishment and success. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me Sincerely, Jennifer Jennifer Hammond
For information about the Teacher at Sea Program
and the
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