The introduction of the new elective The Adventure of Exploring the Universe in Romanian schools has created a growing need for teacher training in astronomy. To address this challenge, a two-day IAU-OAE funded Teacher Training Program was organized in August 2025, bringing together 20 teachers from diverse STEM backgrounds across Romania. The program bridged classroom astronomy and Olympiad preparation through lectures, hands-on activities, and specially designed teaching resources covering topics from celestial coordinates to exoplanets and observational astronomy. We present the program design, pre- and post-course evaluations results, and lessons learned, highlighting how teacher development can support both curriculum implementation and advanced student engagement in astronomy.

Biography:

Catalina Miritescu is a PhD student in gravitational-wave data analysis at IFAE Barcelona and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, working on searches for stochastic gravitational-wave backgrounds with the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration. She studied astronomy at Caltech and theoretical physics at Imperial College London. Alongside her research, she is deeply involved in astronomy education in Romania, through Olympiad problem writing, student mentoring, teacher training, and popular science writing. She hopes to continue building pathways for young students to discover astronomy and pursue science.