Kansas City is Host to Area’s Largest Gathering of Science Educators
ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ — Science education will take center stage in Kansas City as it hosts approximately 3,000 science teachers for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Area Convention. Taking place November 13-15 at the Kansas City Convention Center, the event features an exciting lineup of nationally known speakers, as well as local students from Blue Valley’s Liberty View Elementary School. Hosted in conjunction with the Science Teachers of Missouri (STOM), the convention will entice science teachers, scientists, administrators, and many others from Missouri, Kansas, and surrounding states, to come together to share new ideas, learn about new teaching tools and techniques, and discuss important issues facing science education. The convention offers educators an invaluable opportunity for professional development, which is the bedrock of quality teaching. A highlight of the NSTA convention is its slate of nationally known speakers, including Bob Ballard, the deep-sea explorer best known for his discovery of the Titanic wreckage; Kansas native Bill Kurtis, who anchors three popular A&E Network programs, including The New Explorers; Colonels Nancy and Jerry Jaxx, world-renowned specialists on highly infectious viruses and key figures in the book The Hot Zone; and Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, who is considered the nation’s leading expert on the teaching of evolution. On Thursday morning teachers will observe students from Blue Valley’s Liberty View Elementary School, who will demonstrate science experiments that make use of crayfish. In addition, assistant commissioners of education from both Kansas and Missouri will join NSTA leaders in a panel discussion of the No Child Left Behind Act. When not attending back-to-back sessions and workshops, teachers will browse NSTA’s popular exhibition hall where more than 100 companies and organizations will display state-of-the-art science education products, such as portable planetariums and digital alternatives to dissection. CONTACT: Cindy Workosky of the National Science Teachers Association,
+1-703-312-9248, cell: +1-703-899-3758, or