Teachers’ Workshop

Join us for an exciting day learning how to integrate aviation, space, robotics and more into your curriculum! All K-12 teachers are invited to attend.

Begin with the thrill of being selected in a random drawing to fly with the AeroShell Aerobatic Team! Enjoy breakfast followed by the opening ceremony with special speakers to welcome you to the SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo. Then choose from a variety of concurrent sessions being offered throughout the morning.

This is the place to be! We will motivate and inspire you with a lot of ideas and activities to use in your classroom! Come experience STEM with us and inspire your students to reach for the stars!  After all, the Sky is Just the Beginning!

Registration is a low rate of $20.00 for teachers and administrators. This price includes regular admission ($25 value) to SUN ‘n FUN for the day, light breakfast and parking ($10 value). Please—no children or guests.

Four participants will fly with the AeroShell Aerobatic Team during the workshop. The drawing for these rides is promptly at 8:00 A.M. (The rides are for teachers currently in the classroom, and they must be physically able to climb into the cockpit, without assistance, of a T-6 aircraft and weigh less than 250 pounds.)

An in-service points certificate will be in your goody bag.

Registrations completed by March 27th will receive a parking pass via email.

Check back regularly for updates to the schedule and presenters!

Ray Lien was reputed as an excellent aviation educator. He envisioned an Aerospace Educators Workshop in 1988. Ray was introduced to aviation in 1925 by his Platte, South Dakota, neighbors. Ray enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in January 1942. Throughout WWII, Ray served as a Maintenance Officer in various locations, but predominantly in North Africa with B-26 and B-25 aircraft. After the war, Ray joined the Air Force Reserve, where he continued to serve in the maintenance field until his retirement as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1970.

Ray Lien earned a BS in Agricultural Engineering from South Dakota State College in 1941 and an MS in Agricultural Engineering in 1958. He actually began teaching at Purdue University in 1953, which he continued until 1987. He was one of the few Purdue University faculty to ever rise from an Instructor to Full Professor without earning a Ph.D. In 1988, he became Coordinator (and later Chairman) of Educational Project for SUN ‘n FUN and started the first Aerospace Educator Workshop.

In Ray’s honor, we proudly present the Ray Lien Award annually during the SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo during the Aerospace Educators Workshop. This award is given to recognize an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to aviation education.

Nomination Procedures – Deadline March 1, 2023.

• The award will be presented at SUN ‘n FUN in Lakeland, Florida during the Aerospace Educators Workshop. We request the recipient be present at the Workshop to receive the award.
• Anyone can nominate a person and it can be self-nominated. The nominator must submit a letter of support for the candidate by describing his/her contributions to aviation education.
• The recipient must agree to present a session for teachers at the following year’s workshop.
• The nomination letter of support should be emailed to Bill Yucuis no later than March 1, 2023.