? Will island residents need to be evacuated?
? Will the hurricane make landfall?
? Watch as student-scientists try to outwit an ecological and human disaster from the safety of their classroom…

A classroom equipped with three computers, Internet connectivity, and a web cam is transformed into Emergency Command Central. Three teams of students nervously surround maps and worksheets, ready and waiting to predict the patterns of both a violent hurricane and an angry, erupting volcano. Watch and listen as these young scientists must work together as a team to determine the evacuation of 8,000 island inhabitants.

Media personnel are invited to attend the premier of E-MISSION: OPERATION MONTSERRAT ISLAND, an exciting, new distance-learning scenario offered to Arizona’s students by the Challenger Space Center. With gifted middle-schoolers taking on the roles of emergency response scientists, the premier of E-Mission: Operation Montserrat Island will take place on Tuesday, May 13th, beginning at 9:15 a.m. at Cartwright School Gifted Center, 5480 West Campbell, in Phoenix. The two-hour live event is the culmination of eight hours of teacher training at the Challenger Space Center, and twenty-four 45-minute classroom lessons.

Operation Montserrat Island connects a Flight Director at the Challenger Space Center in Peoria, Arizona, with a classroom anywhere in the world for a unique learning adventure. With the help of computers, the Internet, and a small video camera, students interact with a Peoria-based Flight Director to track the hurricane, predict volcanic rock fall, and determine how these conditions will impact the island’s air, land, water, and vegetation. This unique distance learning program meets state and national education standards in the areas of mathematics and science for students in 6th through 12th grade. E-Mission: Operation Montserrat has been made possible for Arizona’s students with a grant from the Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation, with additional support from Target General, Inc., Cox Communications, and Intel.

Questions about E-Mission, or for information on how you can cover this Challenger Space Center live event on-site at Cartwright School Gifted Center, should be directed to Paula Hubbs Cohen, Challenger Media Liaison, at 623-412-9799, or email [email protected] .

BACKGROUND OF E-MISSION: OPERATION MONTSERRAT: On September 4, 1996, the most dangerous place to be in the world was the island of Montserrat. The volcano which had given birth to this Caribbean paradise was now threatening to destroy it. For several months, the island’s residents had been anticipating a potentially catastrophic eruption and had begun the evacuation process. Little did they expect that the tropical storm brewing 400 miles away would head in their direction, developing into a full-blown hurricane. This unique Challenger Center distance learning scenario takes students back to this day using real satellite imagery and data from this historic meteorological event, downloaded every six minutes into their classroom, and transforms these young scientists into the Emergency Response Teams responsible for the safety of the island’s 8,000 inhabitants.