From:       
The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Luke Sacks (646) 381-5282 / lsacks@intrepidmuseum.org  

Contact:   
Rubenstein Communications Inc., Public Relations
Brady Littlefield (212) 843-9220 / blittlefield@rubenstein.com 

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NEW YORK, NY (September 24, 2012) – The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum has received the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration’s Pinnacle Award for the 2011-2012 school year for its top-ranking education programs for K-12 students.

Forty institutions across the nation were honored with the Pinnacle distinction, with an additional thirty organizations being recognized as Honorable Mention.  The awards are based exclusively on feedback from teachers who have used content from the organizations in their classrooms or for their own professional advancement. 

“We are proud of the programs we have established, for educators and students alike, and it is such an honor to receive this distinction from the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration,” said Sheri Levinsky Raskin, Assistant Vice President of Education at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.  “We look forward to continuing Intrepid’s commitment to education, particularly in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  With the arrival of Enterprise and the one-of-a-kind Space Shuttle Pavilion, our team is excited to create meaningful programs that continue to educate and inspire the next generation of innovators.”

The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum currently offers three video conferencing programs for grades 4-8: “Life at Sea”, “Take Flight” and “Intrepid Journeys.”  In each program, museum educators interact with classrooms in real time using artifacts, historic photographs, models, video presentations and historic documents to help students think critically about the history of and science surrounding USS Intrepid while it was in service.  Students also engage in hands-on activities and experiments with the educator, creating a fun, fully interactive learning environment and giving students all over the world the opportunity to visit the Intrepid from their own classrooms.  The Museum also offers two programs for adults and senior citizens: “Humanity Behind the Hardware” and “Inspiration and Ingenuity: Intrepid in WWII.”  Beginning November 2012, the Museum will offer a new distance learning program for students entitled “Food and Nutrition: How do Astronauts stay healthy in space?”

The Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration was established in 1994 as a not-for-profit, specializing in the access to applications and the utilization of video conferencing for live interactive content and professional development, as well as web based collaborative learning environments for K-20 education.  CILC provides consulting expertise in videoconferencing, integration, problem based learning projects, school-community partnerships and effective techniques for the delivery and development of quality programs. 

Now home of the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum complex includes the 900-foot-long aircraft carrier ‘Intrepid’ with seven full decks and four theme halls; the guided missile submarine Growler; and an extensive collection of 27 aircraft including the A-12 Blackbird, the fastest plane in the world, and the British Airways Concorde, the fastest commercial aircraft in the world. Guests can experience areas of the ship including the Flight Deck, Hangar Deck, fo’c’sle (commonly known as the anchor chain room), new multimedia presentations and exhibit collections, interactive educational stations and a state-of-the-art public pier.  Guests to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum also can experience the 12,240 square-foot interactive Exploreum – which contains a variety of hands-on exhibits – that teaches guests about the different properties of the sea, air, space and living at sea as each relates to the ship Intrepid. In the Exploreum, guests can experience a flight simulator, transmit messages using Morse code, sit on the bunk of a crewmember, learn how the Intrepid turned salt water into fresh water and perform various tasks while wearing space gloves.

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