By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
A local educator has joined an elite group of educators whose work helps others reach for the stars.
Pam Kraus, CTE coordinator and STEM consultant at Smoky Hill Education Service Center in Salina, is one of 26 educators named to the most recent flight of teacher liaisons for the Space Foundation. The flight has educators from around the world, including Australia, Brazil, Botswana, Canada, Ghana, Indonesia, Portugal, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States. Kraus is the only Kansas educator selected for this flight.
Educators were selected for the program because of their active promotion of space and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education in the classroom.
Kraus said that she and other teacher liaisons "will be provided with resources and training in how to use space to create interest and motivate students while they learn important concepts in a variety of academic subjects." She said that next week she will join other teacher liaisons at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo., where the newsest members will begin their training.
"We will also be joining a network of amazing educators who are also passionate about space education," she said.
Part of Kraus' responsibility as a teacher liaison is to pass on to other teachers what she learns through the Space Foundation program, an ideal responsibility, given Kraus' work.
"As a STEM Consultant at Smoky Hill Education Service Center, I provide resources and professional development opportunities for STEM teachers," Kraus said. "I look forward to designing workshops where I can share what I've learned in my position as a Space Foundation teacher liaison, so other teachers can benefit, which ultimately benefits students!"
Being a teacher liaison is also a personal fit for Kraus.
"As a child growing up during the space race and watching man land on the moon, I have always had an interest in space. But it was after attending my first Teachers in Space workshop several years ago that I really became passionate about how space can be used in the classroom," she said.
Since that workshop, Kraus has looked for opportunities to further her knowledge of space and to build her network of space educators.
Kraus said she can maintain her teacher liaison status for as long as she is "able and willing to keep learning and sharing what she has learned."
"With the 26 members of the 19th flight being named this year, there are now over 300 Teacher Liaisons around the world championing space education in their countries," she said.
The Teacher Liaison Program won't be the only learning initiative keeping Kraus busy this year.
In June, she is scheduled to travel to Germany where she will spend two weeks with the Transatlantic Outreach Program studying how STEM and career and technical education are taught in that country.
"I was selected for this trip in 2020 and after the trip being postponed the past two summers due to COVID, I'm so excited to finally get this opportunity!" she explained.
In July, Kraus will be assisting at a Teachers in Space workshop for the Cosmosphere's new Launch Learning Fellows program.
Additionally, Kraus recently found out that she has been selected to attend The Space Age on the Space Coast workshop at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral. The workshop is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
"I'm excited because this workshop will focus on how the Space Age has affected history and will allow me to develop cross-curricular projects teachers can use in their classrooms," Kraus said.
About the Space Foundation
Founded in 1983, the Space Foundation offers "a gateway to education, information and collaboration for space exploration and space-inspired industries that define the global space ecosystem," according to information on the organization's website. Through its work, the foundation brings together business, government, education, and local communities.