The annual conference of the National Science Teachers Association was held March 27th-29th in Boston. The Massachusetts Academy of Science sponsored a booth in the NSTA exhibit hall. We had a large, enthusiastic crew of volunteers on had to introduce the Academy to the attending science teachers. We presented a a demo for teaching about the importance of hand washing and had a 4 foot tall, automated K'Nex roller coaster racing around its course to demonstrate a fun way to teach principles of physics. 
Our newest volunteer was on hand, ready to thrill, or scare, our visitors. Monty the Python, a two foot long ball python, has recently joined the Academy. He is a lovely, gentle, constrictor, always ready to slither across your shoulders or flick his tongue in hello. His ability to draw a crowd was amazing!
Most important, we had the opportunity to meet with hundreds of science teachers from across the nation, representing all grades of instruction. We learned about the challenges they face as they seek to inspire students and create engaging instruction with extremely limited budgets. Even in the face of such challenges, we were inspired by the enthusiasm, commitment and drive these teachers possess. Our visit has resulted in an even stronger commitment to provide as many teaching resources as possible to help in their heroic efforts to teach our youth.
NSTA was a great success for the Academy. We made many new friends and even ran into a few old ones (Bill Nye, the Science Guy, stopped by to give us a hearty congratulations and to offer his help!). We solicited several new members and generated a huge list of new contacts and potential volunteers. We emerged with a renewed drive to push the educational missions of the Academy forward and with several new ideas on how best to meet this challenge!
Sincerely,
Dr. Margaret (Peg) Riley
President
Massachusetts Academy of Sciences
I was very excited by the enthusiasm from all of the MA teachers we encountered at the NSTA meeting. We got a lot of positive feedback, interest in school visits, and people were just excited in general at the prospect of what the MAS could do for them. We signed up two new members, and also established an enormous contact list. Monty, our new ball python, made his debut, and was a huge hit. He proved to be very well behaved, and drew in a lot of interest. He will definitely be a part of future school visits, given his gentle temperament. I have compiled a list of links that can be used by students and by teachers. These links are excellent resources for students to use if they are doing research projects, or are simply curious about different subjects in science. Most of these links also offer lesson plans that can be used by teachers to spice up their curriculum. Be sure to check them out!
Sara Cody
Director of Children's Outreach
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NSTA was a huge success! Not only did we get to meet and interact with scores of very talented and ambitious MA science teachers, but we also got to learn more about what they needed from MAS. They told us of the things that they lacked in their classrooms and showed alot of interest in having MAS help them to get their students excited about science. It was great to be approached by the teachers that wanted to learn more about MAS, but it was even more encouraging that the teachers were networking and sending people over to speak with us. Being the director of volunteers, I found the number of contacts that we made to be phenomenal. I really hope that we can collaborate with many of the individuals that we met at NSTA and get into the classrooms and really enhance students' experiences with science through education and demonstrations. Overall, I found that NSTA was a great experience for all of those involved and I look forward to working with all of those interested in MAS.
Sandy Robinson
Director of Volunteer Programs
