Future pilots, astronauts, and engineers have a new reason to visit the National Mall! The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is celebrating the reopening of two classrooms dedicated to aerospace learning, thanks to a $1 million gift from GE Aerospace.
Coinciding with the museum’s 50th anniversary, the new GE Aerospace Classrooms are designed as inspirational learning spaces where students can experiment, tinker, and let their imaginations take flight. The classrooms are expected to welcome hundreds of students each year.
The generous gift goes beyond bricks and mortar: it also supports staffing for student and teacher programs that connect young learners with the museum’s world-famous artifacts. A museum educator will lead “Museum Labs” — reservable, object-based field trips at the Washington, D.C., location — giving classes hands-on encounters with real history.
GE Aerospace’s support doesn’t stop there. The company also donated another $1 million to sponsor the Demonstration Theater in the “How Things Fly” gallery, which will host interactive programs and hands-on activities that make STEM concepts and the science of flight easier to understand for visitors of all ages.
“We hope to spark curiosity, expand hands-on learning and inspire the next generation that will help build the future of flight,” said Meghan Thurlow, president of the GE Aerospace Foundation.
Photo: Stan Shebs (CC BY-SA 3.0), Wikimedia Commons.
