"You know, the Space Place"
Perhaps no service we provide at the Center for Educational Technologies touches more people than the Challenger Learning Center. And as any employee here will tell you, when you describe where you work to people in the Wheeling area, it helps to say "the place where the kids fly the space missions." That usually rings a bell because so many area residents have either sent their children to a Challenger mission, or they know someone who has.
Through both on-site and distance learning missions, thousands of learners young and old alike are touched by the simulated space and science missions offered through Challenger. In 2009 alone Challenger e-Missions™ made more than 1,000 video connections to classrooms around the world. That's a lot of students who get to experience the fun and excitement of a distance learning mission, bringing NASA science to their classrooms. Challenger also welcomed thousands of students to our building through its on-site missions.
Challenger began work in 2009 on its Micronauts learning lab where pupils in preschool through second grade will get the chance to work on space-related activities. The lab will open in 2010.