ELIZABETH TORRES
Puerto Rican teacher selected for NASA program
Elizabeth Torres will be the first Puerto Rican educator to participate in the Space Academy for Teachers
Writing about the emotions experienced during and after the devastating passage of hurricane MarÃa in Puerto Rico was key to the fact that teacher Elizabeth Torres was selected to be part of NASA’s Space for Teachers Academy, being the first Puerto Rican educator to enter the prestigious program.
Without electrical energy in their home in Barceloneta, the teacher of science, biology, chemistry and environmental sciences – at a higher level – in the school specializes in theater José Julián Acosta, in Old San Juan, used paper and pencil to answer an essay question for the application on what would be the process of a teacher to teach young people in the lack of economic resources.
“It was the first and the most difficult question ,” Torres toldendi.com.
“I put it off as most students do.
After Hurricane MarÃa, emotions flourished not only in terms of the loss of electricity and water, but also the economic situation of the country. I spilled everything there because it is a very trick question. In a fiscal crisis as such, the lack of materials, books is not an excuse to reinvent them as teachers. There are other types of resources that wouldn’t cost money, such as bringing professionals to talk about their experiences, such as an engineer talking about bridges. Not only are books (to teach). I think it was the key question. I’m still a little bit in shock,” she said.
Torres, who has 26 years of experience in the education system, competed worldwide against nearly 2,500 applications.Â
The space program only chose 25 people.
Torres, who is affiliated with the NASA Consortium in Puerto Rico, will attend the trainings between June and July in Huntsville, Alabama.
It is the same center where the Puerto Rican astronaut Joseph Acaba trained.
Once the courses are finished, Torres would be a candidate to fly into space as an educator if NASA activates the trips again.
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