SOUTHEAST GETS NASA CENTER

Southeast Missouri State University has landed a NASA Educator Resource Center. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration center will open next month.

It will be the only such center in Missouri. The center will provide expertise and educational materials in science, math and technology to teachers and students throughout the state.

The ERC will operate under the direction of the Linda M. Godwin Center for Science and Mathematics Education and will share space with the university's Math Resource Center at 222 N. Pacific in a former bank building. Godwin is a space-shuttle astronaut from Oak Ridge and a graduate of Southeast.

Southeast will hold a grand opening for the new facility at 4 p.m. on Nov. 16. NASA officials will be on hand for the opening."We are delighted that the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center has selected Southeast Missouri State as its Missouri site for an educator resource center," said Dr. Ken Dobbins, Southeast's president.

Dobbins said the center would advance science and mathematics education in the state.

Dr. Ernest Kern, director of the Godwin Center at Southeast, helped secure the NASA center.

Kern said the ERC will offer a variety of instructional and interactive teacher and student programs and activities both at the center and in elementary and secondary schools.

The center will be used by educators in public, private, parochial and home schools. It also will be open to the general public.

The ERC plans to create a Web site so that many of the resource materials can be viewed or listed on line. A toll-free number will be established.