In partnership with the Colorado Department of Labor & Employment (CDLE) and the Aerospace Sector Partnership, convened by Arapahoe/Douglas Works!, the Colorado Space Business Roundtable  (CSBR) is offering paid Summer Teacher Externship opportunities for three Colorado teachers! 

Target Audience:  CSBR, Arapahoe/Douglas Works! and CDLE will select three Colorado teachers to participate in this program. Priority for two out of the three positions will be given to teachers from rural school districts as defined by the Colorado Department of Education. A school district is determined to be rural, giving consideration to the size of the district, the distance from the nearest large urban/urbanized area and having a student enrollment of 6,500 students or less. Small rural districts are those districts meeting these same criteria and having a student population of less than 1,000 students. 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 10-14: Virtual Program (teachers will participate in the externship 30-40 hours during this week)
• July 29 – Aug 4: In-Person Colorado Week, including an Aerospace Event at Wings Over the Rockies in Centennial on August 3, 2024 (teachers will participate in the externship for at least 40 hours during this week).

Stipend:  Upon completion of the two-week externship and all assignments, each participating teacher will receive a $3,000 stipend from the Strong Sectors, Good Jobs grant provided by the Colorado Workforce Development Council. Additional reimbursement for travel expenses will be available for teachers traveling more than 50 miles from Centennial, Colorado. 

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 18, 2024. 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 25, 2024: Application Here; selection decisions will be made by May 3, 2024.