Girl Scouts & NASA Pair-up for Solar System Community Event
28 Aug 2003
Contact: Denille M. Douglas
Director of Integrated Communications
(803) 782-5133 ext. 3044
douglasd@congaree.org
Columbia, SC, August 28, 2003 - The Girl Scout Council of the Congaree Area, Inc. and NASA are sponsoring a fun Solar System Community Event for area elementary school children and their families. This event is free to all participants and will take place in the parking lot of Mid-Carolina High School, located at 6794 US-76 (between Little Mountain and Prosperity), on Saturday, September 6, 2003 from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM.
Right now, NASA has several spacecrafts that are exploring our Solar System and returning amazing information and pictures to help us learn more about our planetary neighbors. The Girl Scouts invite you to take advantage of this opportunity, as NASA provides information about Mars & Saturn, comets, and what scientists think they may discover from out-of-this-world missions and destinations.
Sheri Klug, who represents The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, and the Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University, will give several presentations about the two rovers--"Spirit" and "Opportunity," which will land on Mars in January 2004.
This Solar System Community Event will include colorful displays provided by NASA. The storyboards will share the excitement and latest news about upcoming Solar System explorations slated for 2004-The Year of Space!
The Girl Scout Council of the Congaree Area, Inc. will host fun, hands-on activity centers for children to learn all about the solar system. Participants will have a chance to launch rockets, make craters, help with volcano eruptions, race a rover and much much more!
NASA is currently conducting training about space exploration for Girl Scout leaders across the country, to help them teach Girl Scouts about current science, engineering and technology topics. Tina McCartha, a Girl Scout troop leader in Chapin, SC is the local Solar System Community Coordinator for the Congaree Council. She recently received training from NASA educators and scientists at the national Girl Scout training facility, Edith Macy Conference Center, located just outside New York City.
For more information about the Solar System Community Event, or to find out how you can become a Girl Scout, please contact Becky Johnson, Membership Manager for the Girl Scout Council of the Congaree Area, Inc. at (803) 782-5133 ext.3026.
All girls ages 5-17, who are interested in becoming Girl Scouts are encouraged to come to this event, and visit the recruitment booth.
