Aerospace Teacher Externships

Target Audience:
CSBR, Arapahoe/Douglas Works!, and CDLE will select up to four Colorado teachers to participate in this program. In alignment with the funding source for these positions, priority for three of the four positions will be given to teachers who teach in Arapahoe or Douglas counties, and at least one of the teachers will be from a rural Colorado school district, as defined by the Colorado Department of Education. A school district is determined to be rural based on the size of the district, the distance from the nearest large urban or urbanized area, and a student enrollment of 6,500 or less. Small rural districts meet these same criteria but have a student population of less than 1,000. A current list of rural school districts meeting these definitions is available here.

Purpose:
Teachers will gain first-hand exposure and insights into aerospace careers in Colorado, while also building valuable relationships with community leaders and elected officials who are aerospace champions.

Activities:
Three teachers and approximately 40-60 students will engage with aerospace businesses, university programs, and nonprofits to learn about the opportunities and challenges facing the industry, as well as skills and knowledge needed for those careers. Teachers will complete a daily blog assignment during the virtual and in-person weeks, and develop at least one lesson to bring back to
their classrooms based on their learnings. Prior to the program’s start, teachers will work side-by-side with CSBR, ADW, and CDLE to secure participation from businesses and schools, plan activities, choose topics of interest to students, and create communication resources/assets for the program. Planning activities are expected to take between 5-10 hours per week (for a total of 30-60 hours) to
complete.

Dates:
The program runs for two weeks, one virtual and the other in-person:

• June 8-12: Virtual Program (teachers will participate in the externship 30-40 hours during this week)
• June 22–27: In-Person Colorado Week, including the Air N Space-A-Palooza at Wings Over the Rockies in Centennial on June 27th (teachers will participate in the externship for at least 40 hours during this week).

Stipend:
Arapahoe/Douglas Works! and CDLE will provide a $3,000 stipend for eligible teachers who successfully complete the CSBR teacher externship program. To be eligible, teachers must successfully complete the externship and be employed in a Colorado school district. Three of the four participating teachers must be employed in Arapahoe or Douglas County school districts; the fourth teacher must be employed by a rural school district as defined above.
In addition to the stipend, teachers will be provided a certificate of completion documenting the number of externship hours, which can be used as professional development credit toward teacher license renewal through the Colorado Department of Education.

Information Session:
A virtual information session will be held from 4:00-5:00 pm on Thursday, April 16, 2026. During this event, participants will receive an overview of the externship, and will also have an opportunity to ask questions. Register here for this event.

Apply by April 24, 2026:
Application Here; selection decisions will be made by May 1, 2026.