Chelen Johnson
I was surprised how many people I now know after 2 AAS [meetings]. There were quite a few people who remembered me and were interested in talking with me. This was fun (I like talking with people) and disruptive as I did not make as many talks as I anticipated.
One of my students at Niles West had become interested in GRBs as we thought they were the results of mergers of black holes [but we learned this was wrong at an AAS plenary talk]. My student thought it was interesting that scientists could change their minds about how things worked.
I hope other teachers get to keep experiencing this program forever, because this is the single greatest professional development opportunity I have ever experienced, and I'm a junkie. I was a master teacher for a nationwide pre college and engineering program for 18 years. I've run non profits for 20 years. This is the best PD experience for teachers I've ever experienced, because it is authentic from beginning to end.