Tish Krieg

I manage NASA Quest's "Women of NASA" Project. I came to NASA after working in educational technology for 18 years. As Project Manager I am responsible for all facets of the Women of NASA project: creating and developing the various components of the project; recruiting women and adding new profiles; designing web pages; and producing the live interactive events. My days are filled with interactions with lots of interesting people via e-mail, telephone and meetings. I work part-time and telecommute from a home office; and go into NASA one day per week.

The most exciting aspect of my work is interacting with all of the various women from NASA who do exceedingly inspiring work and trying to find stimulating ways to encourage our participants. I especially enjoy being part of the NASAQuest team that serves thousands of students, teachers, educators, and parents. We work creatively together to design different elements of our projects which focus on the real people behind NASA. Teamwork is key to our success. The fast paced nature of my work appeals to my high energy level. I do spend a great deal of time by myself at the computer, and I really enjoy this time alone. Having time to think things through creates a balance in my work. I also get lots of great ideas for new events when I'm off on bike rides, swimming, or hiking, and my imagination has time to wander.

Organizational skills, the ability to be creative, and to put my ideas into action are probably the key parts of my work. I do have to be able to communicate with the various mentors from the project and be knowledgeable about their areas of work. I really enjoy learning all about our mentors. Even as a small child I was always curious about everything, so learning and school was always fun. I was lucky enough to have parents who capitalized on my inherent curiosity and made learning challenging and exciting. Being enthusiastic about my work and really enjoying what I do is a wonderful feeling, although there is always many more things I want to do with the project and there is never enough time.

I decided to go into teaching because I wanted to work with underprivileged students - those who had not had the opportunities I had growing up. My first teaching assignment was at San Quentin prison teaching reading. That was quite a thrilling experience! Unfortunately, they had a prison lockdown after about 10 months and they stopped all outside contact, including my program.

I then went on to teach at the elementary level with inner city - at risk students in two of the highest crime areas in the nation. It was at this time that computers began to show up in some of the schools and I was able to see great benefits from the one-on-one interaction and immediate feedback the students received from using computers. Our school began funneling money into computer hardware and I became a computer teacher. In those days there wasn't really any software for schools and I taught basic programming as a means of reinforcing sequencing and following directions. Those kids would spend hours with a program just to end up wth a simple design on the screen.

My career progressed from an elementary teacher, to a math/computer remediation teacher focused on computer use, to a computer lab teacher, to a computer resource teacher, to a technology coordinator, to a technology consultant, and eventually I was selected as a State Department of Education Technology Fellow. Along the way I learned to use computers to achieve a variety of interdisciplinary curriculum goals and train teachers how to effectively integrate technology into their teaching and learning. I also learned to write grants and gain funding for technology programs, form corporate sponsors for school partnerships, and to speak at various events on educational technology practices and programs. One of the most exciting grants I wrote was back when no one had ever heard of the word Internet. We partnered with a number of local corporations and used e-mail to link students from economically and socially diverse backgrounds and schools who eventually fed into the same high school with the goal of breaking down racial barriers. Aside from the excitement of having the first elementary school in the nation using the Internet and the fabulous impact this project had on the students and communities, I had the opportunity to work with some creative NASA folks who organized our Internet connectivity and trained us on new emerging technologies. A few years later they came to me with the idea of a web-based project to encourage young girls in the math and science areas, and Women of NASA was born!

Coinciding with my schooling and teaching, I owned and operated a catering business for eight years. I am still called the "theme queen" as I love to create the entire party image to complement the menu. I sold the business so I could pursue my passion for educational technology and have more time for my family.

Not only was Women of NASA born five years ago, but my husband and I also had our first son. Thinking at first that I would just stay at home, I thought long and hard about what makes me a happy and fulfilled person and decided that I needed to retain some aspect of my career. NASA has been very good for me in this regard, and I have worked out a schedule where I telecommute and work part time. I go into my NASA office one day per week and work from home on two other days. Our second son just turned two. This arrangement works out great for me so I can be home with our children but still have the fulfillment of a career. My family really is the most important part of my life right now and our little boys bring such great joy and laughter...exhaustion and frustration, into our lives.

I have always and continue to enjoy life to the fullest each day. When an interesting opportunity arises - either for business or pleasure - I am the first to grab it. I have been lucky to have friends in far off places and have the opportunity to travel all over the world. Now that I am married to a native German, we spend a great deal of time in Europe. Although my German is far from perfect, I certainly enjoy the challenge of communicating in a foreign country. Our children are being raised speaking English, Spanish, and German, and I think this will be a very important asset for them.

My husband and I both enjoy active sports and exercise. We love to ski, bicycle, swim and hike. I used to do triathlons competitively and still look forward to pursueing that again. I have done the Alcatraz Triathlon and have swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco four times - once as the first female finisher of the swim. Although I can't endorse it for everyone, I have tried scuba diving, skydiving, helicopter skiing, and spent a college quarter hopping freight trains in the Northwest. Having children has slowed me down a bit although we do have every possible apparatus to bring the kids with us on our athletic jaunts. I still enjoy cooking and entertaining, especially with a few extra tiny hands in the kitchen.

Living in the Silicon Valley, I see so many hard working, serious people who seem to have forgotten how to enjoy themselves, the life they have worked so hard for, and their families. I try to enjoy every single, varied moment of my life and make the most out of each experience I am given - be it a simple pleasurable one or a seemingly insurmountable one. I feel blessed to have found a wonderful balance in my life with this exciting work at NASA and a wonderful family and friends.