Date

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 22 April 2002


Dear Colleague,

The Teachers Experiencing Antarctica and the Arctic (TEA) Program is
seeking active K-12 science and social science teachers who have a
strong interest in bringing exciting current research to their students
and colleagues!

Through the TEA Program, teachers journey to polar regions to
participate in field research. The TEA teacher works closely with
scientists, is involved in cutting-edge science, and is immersed in the
process of science. Enveloping this field experience are professional
development opportunities through which TEA teachers increase content
knowledge, enhance teaching skills, transfer the experience to the
classroom, assume leadership roles, and collaborate with a network of
researchers and education colleagues.

The TEA Program is sponsored by the National Science Foundation's (NSF)
Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education (ESIE) in the
Directorate for Education and Human Resources and the Office of Polar
Programs (OPP). TEA is facilitated by the American Museum of Natural
History (AMNH) of New York, New York, and the Cold Regions Research and
Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) of Hanover, New Hampshire, and Rice
University of Houston, Texas.

Applications are available at http://tea.rice.edu (select "apply").
Applications for the TEA 2003/2004 field season must be post-marked by
22 April 2002. Eligible applicants must be certified in their field of
teaching and employed in a K-12 public, private, or parochial school
within the United States or at a United States' international school.
Minority applicants especially are encouraged.

We invite you to share the Teachers Experiencing Antarctica and the
Arctic Program with your teaching colleagues. Interested teachers are
encouraged to explore the TEA Web page (http://tea.rice.edu), visit the
TEA Booth at NSTA, and to apply to the program.

Thank you for your assistance in distributing information about this
research experience professional development opportunity to your
teaching colleagues.

Sincerely,
Dr. Debra Meese
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory

Dr. Stephanie Shipp
Department of Education, American Museum of Natural History
Department of Earth Science, Rice University