SEMAA at Fernbank
On February 1, 1999 DeKalb County School System's Fernbank Science Center entered into an agreement with NASA/SEMAA as an official SEMAA site. The Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy (SEMAA) is a program of activities created by the National SEMAA office under the auspices of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The activities and curriculum are structured and build upon each other and designed to encourage school-aged children to explore scientific principles and methods and to consider careers in math and science. The target audience for NASA SEMAA is historically under served and/or underrepresented groups in the field of science, engineering, mathematics and technologies, however NASA SEMAA is open to all students regardless of ethnicity or gender. In addition, as part of the NASA SEMAA project, the Fernbank Science Center site includes an Aeronautics Education Laboratory (AEL) that serves as a demonstration site for the use of technology in the teaching of math and science using aeronautics as a theme.
Today the Fernbank Science Center NASA SEMAA site continues to be one of the most successful sites in the nation. Increased demand for the program has led to multiple sessions including summer, outreach programs and additional partnerships and alliances with other organizations in aeronautics, aerospace and education fields including:
DeKalb County School System
Morehouse School of Medicine and their Neurolab Project
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Lockheed Martin
The Young Eagles program as part of the EAA Aviation Foundation
As we celebrate the beginning of our 10th year as a NASA SEMAA site, we are continuing our commitment to the students of DeKalb County and the surrounding area by the expansion of the program into schools in the DeKalb County School System and with a special event in conjunction with the “Forty Years of Fernbank, Into the Future” celebration. Check our web site for upcoming events. Come. SOAR with us!