Talcott Mountain Science Center
Encyclopedia
Talcott Mountain Science Center for Student Involvement ("TMSC") is a not-for-profit 501c(3) corporation in Avon, Connecticut
. It is dedicated to the improvement of science education and does so by working directly with students, teachers, and the general public.
TMSC was established in 1967 under a program of the U.S. Department of Education. Its founders were part of the Avon Public School district and included Superintendent Francis Driscoll and science teachers Donald P. La Salle and George C. Atamian. Its campus atop Talcott Mountain
is a former Project Nike
missile radar site ("HA-85") that formed part of the U.S. defenses during the Cold War
. Initially three small buildings and a guard shack, the Center today houses four main campus buildings with classrooms and laboratories, as well as a weather research station, two observatories, the largest teaching planetarium in Connecticut and - within the surrounding 15 miles - a large visible model of the solar system.
Courses include general science for younger students, and enrichment and student-based research in astronomy, chronobiology, computers, ecology, geology, green energy, magic & science, meteorology, music technology, robotics, and video production.
The Center produces curriculum for its own use as well as on a contracted basis for schools and projects. It has originated a number of nationwide educational projects under the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation
. It has been an international consultant to overseas schools in Northern Africa, Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean region.
The Center houses the Talcott Mountain Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology, a private independent co-educational day school centered on science and providing all academic subjects in grades K-8.
Avon, Connecticut
Avon is a town in the Farmington Valley region of Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. , the town had a population of 18,098.Avon is a suburb of Hartford. Avon Old Farms School, a prestigious boarding school, is located there. In 2005, Avon was named the third-safest town in America by...
. It is dedicated to the improvement of science education and does so by working directly with students, teachers, and the general public.
History
Talcott Mountain
Talcott Montain of central Connecticut, with a high point of , is a long trap rock mountain ridge located west of the city of Hartford. The ridge, a prominent landscape feature, forms a continuous line of exposed western cliffs visible across the Farmington River valley from Farmington to Simsbury...
is a former Project Nike
Project Nike
Project Nike was a U.S. Army project, proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft missile system, the Nike Ajax, in 1953...
missile radar site ("HA-85") that formed part of the U.S. defenses during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Initially three small buildings and a guard shack, the Center today houses four main campus buildings with classrooms and laboratories, as well as a weather research station, two observatories, the largest teaching planetarium in Connecticut and - within the surrounding 15 miles - a large visible model of the solar system.
Activities
The Center provides direct science education in schools in central Connecticut, online resources via the internet, teacher training in science methods, as well as public programs by appointment for students and adults on weekends and evenings, vacations and summers.Courses include general science for younger students, and enrichment and student-based research in astronomy, chronobiology, computers, ecology, geology, green energy, magic & science, meteorology, music technology, robotics, and video production.
The Center produces curriculum for its own use as well as on a contracted basis for schools and projects. It has originated a number of nationwide educational projects under the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
. It has been an international consultant to overseas schools in Northern Africa, Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean region.
The Center houses the Talcott Mountain Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology, a private independent co-educational day school centered on science and providing all academic subjects in grades K-8.
Notable alumni
- Eric FossumEric FossumEric R. Fossum is an American physicist and engineer, inventor of the CMOS image sensor. He is currently a professor at Thayer School of Engineering in Dartmouth College.- Early years and education :...
- Steve PerlmanSteve PerlmanStephen G Perlman, OnLive founder, president & CEO, is an entrepreneur and inventor devoted to pioneering Internet, entertainment, multimedia, consumer electronics and communications technologies and services...
- David E. Speyer