Chelen Johnson
Having the opportunity to get new ideas from my peers and discuss projects, activities and strategies helps me to grow and keeps me from becoming stagnant in my teaching. Programs like this are like gold to me because the financial situation in the district in which I teach is such that there is no money available to send our faculty to national conferences.
The networking is amazing. I could call up another NITARP teacher at the drop of my hat and just have a conversation. It’s awesome—the network you build with people who are just as curious and fired up as you are.
Real astronomy isn’t just looking through telescopes with the naked eye anymore. It is really being accurate and precise and a lot of computer mathematics.