If you are a UAE-based teacher, here is your golden chance to make it to the US space camp. If you are worried about the expenses, don't be: it will be a paid trip.

Honeywell, a global software-industrial company, is inviting eligible teachers to join educators from around the world at the prestigious Honeywell Educators at Space Academy (HESA). The programme will be held at the US Space & Rocket Center (USSRC), in Huntsville, Alabama; home to Space Camp, the Apollo 16 capsule and the Official Visitor Center for NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

The innovative, all-expenses paid professional development programme, reinvigorates science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) classes for students, by equipping teachers with inspiration for lesson plans and other materials to create an unforgettable learning experience for the next generation of scientists and engineers in the UAE, a press release said.

Norm Gilsdorf, president, Honeywell, Middle East, Russia, Turkey and Central Asia, said, "Last year, we welcomed four UAE-based teachers to the HESA programme who are now actively sharing their experiences with students, some of whom may become our scientists and astronauts of the future. We believe that investing in teachers is an investment in our youth, and we look forward to welcoming another group of teachers from the UAE at Honeywell Educators at Space Academy in 2018."

Created in 2004 by Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the company's corporate citizenship initiative, in partnership with the USSRC, HESA is a scholarship programme that has graduated 2,776 educators from 62 countries and 52 US states and territories since it launched, reaching more than 3 million students around the world.

One of the UAE teachers to participate in the June 2017 programme was Buthaina Abandah from the Applied Technology High School, Abu Dhabi. Recalling her experience, she said:

    "Going to Space Camp was a transformative experience for me. Not only was it inspiring, I met teachers from all over the world and together we learned new techniques to make STEM education more fun and engaging for our students. I strongly recommend all teachers to apply for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and attend Honeywell Educators at Space Academy in 2018."

The programme includes 45 hours of classroom and laboratory instruction focused on science, space exploration and leadership skills development. Teachers will participate in astronaut-style exercises such as high-performance jet simulation, scenario-based space missions, coding challenges, land and water survival training and interactive flight dynamics programmes. Through these exercises, teachers can create more dynamic and engaging STEM-related learning experiences for their students.

The week-long programme runs twice at the USSRC's Space Camp, from June 13-19, 2018 and June 20-26, 2018. To be eligible for the 2018 HESA programme, educators must be currently teaching science or math to students 10-14 years old and should continue to teach these subject areas through 2018.

Eligible teachers can apply online at https://educators.honeywell.com/application, and must submit their applications before November 14, 2017.

Source: Khaleej Times