2 Cobb Middle School Teachers Named Georgia's Only NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors

COBB COUNTY, GA — For the fourth year in a row, Cobb County teachers were chosen among an elite group of educators to be NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors. This year, two Cobb middle school teachers are the only ambassadors from Georgia to be picked.

Teresa Cobble of Lovinggood Middle School and Ann Marie Dubick of Campbell Middle School were picked among 24 teachers from 13 states as 2022 NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (AAAs).

AAA is a professional development program for science teachers to improve science teaching, as well as enhance student learning and STEM engagement. The program includes teachers in middle schools, high schools and community colleges.

Cobble and Dubick join the 10 other NASA AAAs from Cobb County School District in the last four years.

“This experience will help Ms. Dubick excite our students about space exploration with all of the lessons that she will be planning as a result of her selection,” said Camille Havis, principal of Campbell Middle School.

"As a NASA Ambassador, Mrs. Cobble will continue to use her learning opportunities as a chance to pour her experiences into our students," Lovinggood Principal Derrick Bailey said.

AAA teachers receive training in astrophysics and planetary science, according to a news release. Their training includes a weeklong Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) immersion experience at a NASA astronomy research facility, such as the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) in Palmdale, California or the Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

After their training, the AAAs teach a physical science curriculum module created by the SETI Institute that connects curriculum concepts to NASA-enabled research.

“This powerful STEM program will allow the SETI Institute to continue bringing NASA science into classrooms across the country,” said Dana Backman, AAA program lead, in a news release. “These teachers will use their professional development and STEM immersion experiences to convey real-world content to their students that illuminate the value of scientific research and the wide variety of STEM career paths available to them.”