Energy Secretary to participate in Community Education Forum (Release)

Energy Secretary to participate in Community Education Forum

Secretary of Energy Hazel R. O'Leary will be meeting with a Community Education Forum at the CEBAF Center of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab, formerly CEBAF) on Saturday, May 25.

Fostering science and mathematics education in the Tidewater area and the Southeast is a significant mission of the Department of Energy through the Jefferson Lab. In 1995 more than 1,200 teachers and nearly 10,000 students were served through educational partnerships with the facility. In addition, university partnerships involve students and faculty in the scientific research program. Since 1985, 128 new faculty positions related to CEBAF have been created at campuses in the Southeastern states.

A roundtable discussion will begin at 11 a.m. with participants from K-12 education partnerships and university programs in which the lab is involved.

Joining Jefferson Lab director and educational heads will be representatives of Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, Hampton University, Christopher Newport University, William and Mary, Thomas Nelson Community College, Hampton City Schools, Newport News Public Schools, York County Public Schools and Virginia Beach Public Schools, New Horizons Technical Center and Governor's School for Math and Science, and Chesapeake Center for Science and Technology.

Jefferson Lab is a basic research laboratory to study and understand the detailed structure and behavior of the nucleus of the atom. Physics experiments started in 1995 on the Continuous Beam Electron Accelerator. The facility is a significant resource for science and math education.

For more information, contact Deborah Hyman, (804) 249-4852 or fax (804) 249-7398.