The e-Mission Headquarters at the Challenger Learning Center (CLC), Wheeling University, Wheeling, WV, requests applications from four to eight Emergency Response Teams, for an upcoming e-Mission, to help the people on the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean.

The applications and the steps teams go through to complete them will demonstrate a team's interest and skills. e-Mission Headquarters is looking for applications that show effort, teamwork skills, and creativity. Carefully follow all the steps.

To do a good job on the Application Process, you'll need teamwork. You'll need to build some team spirit. To plan and begin thinking about the whole application, read all the steps of the process before beginning.

First Step: Form a Team
Second Step: Letter of commitment
Third Step: Resumes
Fourth Step: Yellowstone Forest Fires
(Optional): Mission Patch
* Acceptance Letter Request

A letter of commitment

Show us how your team is committed to the next e-Mission.Tell us about your team, its members, and the good job your team will do.

Instructions.

Your team should discuss and agree on the skills, the personal strengths, and the hard work that each member will bring to e-Mission: Operation Montserrat. Brag about each other. To learn something about your teammates, ask each other questions. Make a long list of all of the things you discover about each other and then select the most outstanding and include them in your team's introductory Letter of Commitment. Pick one member to write the letter, then each team member should "edit" the first version to add suggestions or offer alternatives. The Letter of Commitment should "sell" your team.

You may want to also think about developing a team logo or mission patch.

Use this sample to create your own Letter of Commitment:

The Earth Detectives
Mary Jo Hernandez- Biosphere
Kathy Kinte- Atmosphere
Bruce Jackson- Lithosphere
Cindy Wong- Hydrosphere

Dear Challenger Review Panel,
We ask that you seriously consider our application for the e-Mission. We have four experts— a Biosphere expert, an Atmosphere expert, a Lithosphere expert, and a Hydrosphere expert. We are really good at what we do. We are strongest at teamship and cooperation. We also have a good sense of humor which helps us to have good attitudes.

Sincerely,
The Earth Detectives

Mission Patch

Build team spirit. Demonstrate your team's energy and investigative creativity. This part of the application is optional, but it is a lot of fun to do-especially for students who can draw, print, design, or paint. Develop a Mission Patch, or Theme Song, or Team Motto.

NASA creates a mission patch for each mission, and the Astronauts and mission team members all wear it on their uniforms. Mission patches are colorful and illustrate the themes of the mission.

1. Investigate the idea. Every NASA flight and significant space probe has its own Mission Patch, a colorful, collectible symbol for that mission.

2. The Mission Patch attempts to capture in colorful pictures and symbols the goals of the mission and its hopes for the future. The final Mission Patch you send to Mission Control may be a composite of ideas or one patch selected as most representative of your class as a whole.

3. Do you have an idea for a theme song or team motto? Those of you who are musically inclined, or who enjoy working with words, might add a slogan or a theme song with or without lyrics

To learn more about mission patches, and see many examples, follow the links to Mission Patches

Resumes

To participate in e-Mission: Operation Montserrat you must complete a one-page resume. A resume is a description of your education and experience. A resume should be professional looking and include your name, educational background, work experience (if any), and personal references. Check Each others resumes to make them the best they can be.

 

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