WASHINGTON, December 22, 2005—The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is providing museums, science centers, libraries, after-school programs, and families who homeschool with the opportunity to receive free math and science educational materials and training through four workshops to be held in conjuntion with NASA, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, and Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC). The workshops, which will be held at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will help participants create activities and content appropriate for their educational programs from existing NASA and PTC formal educational materials. Participants will receive copies of or access to all resources from the workshops.

ARC will also pay transportation, housing, and meal costs for participants from programs located in or serving Appalachian counties designated as distressed by ARC in fiscal year 2005. (See a list of those counties on ARC's Web site.) Transportation will be provided between the airport, the hotel, and the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.

The following workshops will be offered:

Workshop 1: Rocketry
January 26, 2006, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Learn how to develop activities that will bring the excitement of propulsion and rocketry to your students. Participants will tour the historic test stands at the Marshall Space Flight Center and talk with scientists and engineers who worked with the Apollo program.

Workshop 2: Living and Working in Space
January 27, 2006, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Learn how to share the wonder of space flight with your students. Participants will see what it takes to be an astronaut, from the selection process to training and launching to and living in space; and will learn from scientists and engineers what happens to the body in space.

Workshop 3: Using Pro/DESKTOP 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Windchill ProjectLink Collaboration Software
February 10 and 11, 2006, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Learn how to use powerful software to demonstrate or teach 3D design and make abstract math and science concepts come alive. Participants will receive Pro/DESKTOP 3D CAD software (valued at $1,000 per seat or computer workstation) and access to Windchill ProjectLink, Web-based software to facilitate collaboration with others across the Appalachian Region and around the world, donated by PTC.

Workshop 4: Space Exploration Education Activities Curriculum
March 3, 2006, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Learn how Pro/DESKTOP 3D CAD software can be used to design and assemble a space shuttle or space station, and how to create or adapt formal educational activities for your students. All participants who have received Pro/DESKTOP training and have a valid software license are welcome at this workshop.

More information on the workshops and registration is available on the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Web site. Registration forms must be received at least four weeks before the workshop date. Forms can be faxed to (256) 721-7111, attn: Katrine Balch; or mailed to Katrine Balch, U.S. Space and Rocket Center, One Tranquility Base, Huntsville, AL 35805. For questions on the workshops, call (256) 721-7151.