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Chabot Space & Science Center to open Harcourt Teacher Leadership Center

3 August 2001 – OAKLAND, CA: Oakland's Chabot Space & Science Center has received a $1.5 million grant from the Harcourt General Charitable Foundation to develop a Harcourt Teacher Leadership Center in its new facility.

The Harcourt Teacher Leadership Center (HTLC) will consist of office space, teacher preparation rooms, and several of the Science Center's sophisticated classroom laboratories. The HTLC will serve as the unifying element of all of the Science Center's teacher programs, including its teacher training workshops, open houses, lecture series, fellowships and teacher-in-residence programs.

"The Harcourt Teacher Leadership Center at Chabot Space & Science Center provides an exciting opportunity for teachers from throughout the Bay Area," said Eileen Engel, Director of Education at Chabot. "The new center will provide educators with access to innovative resources that will support their classroom goals."

The new Teacher Leadership Center at Chabot Space & Science Center is the seventh around the country funded by the Harcourt General Charitable Foundation. The foundation is sponsored by the publishing company Harcourt General, Inc.

"Harcourt General is committed to improving teacher preparedness throughout the nation," said Kay Kilpatrick, director of corporate giving, for the Harcourt General Charitable Foundation. "Together Harcourt and Chabot can accomplish that goal through the Harcourt Teacher Leadership Center."

A grand opening of the Harcourt Teacher Leadership Center will take place on November 13 from 4 to 6 p.m. 

The new Chabot Space & Science Center opened to the public on August 19, 2000. It is an innovative teaching and learning center focusing on astronomy and the inter-relationships of all the sciences. Its telescope and observatory complex, domed-screen Tien MegaDome Theater, Ask Jeeves Planetarium, exhibits and natural park setting are a place where students, teachers and the public can imagine, understand and learn to shape their future. Set amid thirteen trail-laced acres in Joaquin Miller Park, with glorious views of San Francisco Bay and the Oakland foothills, the $76-million complex offers a hands-on celebration of sights, sounds, and science. 

Chabot Space & Science Center is the continuation and expansion of Oakland, California's public Chabot Observatory that has served San Francisco Bay Area schools and citizens with astronomy and science education programs for 117 years. The institution began in 1883 as the Oakland Observatory, through a gift from Anthony Chabot to the City of Oakland. The original Oakland Observatory was located in downtown Oakland, and provided public telescope viewing for the community. For decades, it served as the official timekeeping station for the entire Bay Area, measuring time with its transit telescope. For information and tickets, please call (510) 336-7300. www.chabotspace.org.

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