Chelen Johnson
This virtual team collects all independent research presented in 2015, and done by NITARP or Spitzer alumni with (or without) students outside of a formal NITARP team.
I have been a teacher for 38 years, and have been in probably 18-20 special programs over that time to improve myself as a science teacher. The NITARP program ranks as one of the three best programs I have been in over that period of time.
What makes NITARP extraordinary is the level of commitment: both the program's commitment to teachers, and the commitment required from teachers. Teachers commit to a year of hard work, study, risk taking, and intellectual growth. In return, NITARP commits to teachers the most precious resource possible: attentive and supportive mentorship from astronomers at one of the world's premiere research institutions. For me and my students the results have been transformative.
What an incredible feeling to be right there at the edge of discovery!
