From the President
Membership – Meeting of the Minds
You will be hearing more from myself and membership chair, Tony Fowler, Director of Interagency Affairs, U.S. Department of Education, during these summer months as we reach out personally thanking each of you for renewing your NCASE membership. We will also be sharing our strengthened member benefits and gathering updated information for your organization.
Membership growth is an activity for each and every member. After all, the health of an organization is in its members. Our membership goals this year is for multiplying through our demonstrating the value of NCASE while strengthening member benefits and aggressively promoting these benefits. Let’s all rally around by providing our support for growing our membership this year. Renew your membership, if you have not already, and then call a colleague sharing NCASE’s web site.
Promoting membership can take many forms, including media outreach, advertising, public relations, and campaigns. Fostering membership is a human experience. It’s a relationship between the one promoting and the potential member. On the horizon are tools for you to promote and cultivate new NCASE member interest. Tony and I look forward to speaking with you!
An example of one of the many great NCASE membership benefits, called YouthWINGS, is provided by NCASE Director, John Teipen. This program will be available in the NCASE website’s Members Only section. Members will have access to view and create LIVE video broadcasts, to use or develop interactive STEAM student video courses where a student earns a certificate of completion, and much more. John teamed together with Jim Brough, FAA National STEM-AVSED Program Manager for a sample of what the member will experience. View the Aviation Maintenance video and take the quiz earning your certificate of completion at
http://livestream.com/YouthWINGS/events/4770104
Another outstanding member benefit will be at National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) held in Los Angles, California on March 30 – April 2, 2017. NCASE members will be invited to join the Aviation & Aerospace exhibit hall. NSTA has more than 55,000 members with 9,000 to 12,000 attending the national conference each year. We are also in discussion with NSTA for an Aviation & Aerospace Track during their national conference bringing greater visibility for all you do. Email
captjudy@captainjudy.com if you are interested in sharing your organization at this conference.
http://www.nsta.org/conferences/national.aspx
Do you know of an outstanding organization or individual who has illustrated noteworthy achievement and contributions to aviation or space education, or perhaps an accomplished educator who deserves to be inducted into the Crown Circle? We invite you to nominate one or more of these special candidates for NCASE’s Dr. Mervin K. Strickler Jr. Aerospace Education Leadership Award, or the Crown Circle Award. (
Photo above - Trip Barber, left and David Melcher were given Strickler Awards in 2016). Nomination forms with essential information are now available in our file library at:
http://www.aviationeducation.org/home/ncase-news/2-nominate-a-great-candidate-for-a-national-aviation-and-space-education-award
Our quarterly meetings continue to be conducted by teleconference to minimize travel and costs for member representatives. Your executive committee also conducts monthly meetings and welcomes the participation of all members. Watch for emails with dates, times, and dial-in information.
Best Wishes,
Judy Rice
NCASE President
WINNER OF GAMA BUILD A PLANE 2016 AVIATION DESIGN CHALLENGE ANNOUNCED
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and Build A Plane announced today that Weyauwega-Fremont High School in Weyauwega, Wisconsin is the winner of the fourth GAMA/Build A Plane Aviation Design Challenge to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) knowledge among U.S. high school students. As the prize, four students, one teacher, and one chaperone will travel to Glasair Aviation in Arlington, Washington, to build a Glasair Sportsman from June 20-July 1, 2016. (
Photo above - GAMA CEO, Pete Bunce and previous year winners at EAA AirVenture).
The competition included 76 high schools from across the U.S., who used Fly to Learn curriculum to learn the basics of aerospace engineering and then applied that knowledge by modifying a virtual airplane with software powered by X-Plane. The software scored the aircraft based on the payload, the length of the flight, and the amount of fuel burned. In addition, judges from GAMA’s engineering team evaluated a summary of modifications each team made to the virtual Cessna 172SP, a checklist of steps involved in the demonstration flight, and three videos submitted throughout the competition, culminating in the students sharing what they learned.
“Once again, we are extremely fortunate to spend two weeks this summer with an outstanding group of students whose passion for aviation, STEM, and learning has won them this nationwide competition,” GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce said. “They are about to have the experience of a lifetime at Glasair Aviation as they build a Sportsman under the tutelage of Glasair’s exceptionally skilled staff, and learn firsthand about the many career options that exist in general aviation. We thank our generous sponsors for making this experience possible for them, and for providing the curriculum and software to all of the schools that participated in the Aviation Design Challenge this year.” (Photo above - NCASE Vice President, Rol Murrow, left and Lyn Freeman, Build A Plane founder.
Read more:
State Aviation Journal
Education
Obama Wants to Hear What Kids Have to Say About Science Education
Jacob Leggette said he believes it is important that children have a say in their science education. That’s why the 9-year-old budding engineer from Baltimore fearlessly approached President Obama at the White House Science Fair and asked: “Do you have a child science adviser?” Obama does not have a child science adviser, but in a speech at the fair last month, he indicated that he was taking Jacob’s idea to heart. “Jacob . . . had a very good idea,” Obama said, after lauding his project, a collection of items he built on a 3-D printer. “We should have a kid’s advisory group that starts explaining to us what’s interesting to them and what’s working, and could help us shape advances in STEM education.” Inspired by Jacob’s idea, the White House created a Web page to allow children to share their thoughts and views on science, technology, engineering and math education. The site is set to go live Thursday at WH.gov/KidScienceAdvisors.
Read more:
Washington Post
Missouri
Kansas City Not-For-Profit Acquires Former Flying Hospital Jumbo Jet
After being mothballed for 15 years in the Arizona desert, an aging Lockheed L-1011 with a unique history was acquired by a Kansas City not-for-profit organization. The aircraft is being readied for a ferry flight in coming weeks from Tucson to Kansas City, where the old jet will take on a new role. “We are taking aging airliners that would otherwise be cut up for scrap and re-purposing those to use for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education,” said Kerry Floyd, president and co-founder of the not-for-profit, which does business as TriStar Experience.
Read more:
Kansas City Star (VIDEO)
Washington
‘Down is Finite, Up is Infinite,’ Puget Sound Kids Soar in Rocketry
All the worry over lagging education in science, math and technology might lead anyone to think students run from those fields. But consider rocket-building. In Bellevue, the rocketry club at Odle Middle School is in such high demand that teacher Brendan Williams holds a lottery to choose students. Last weekend, one of his teams (code name: Space Potatoes) was the top-scorers among 789 student groups competing in the Team America Rocketry Challenge in Washington, D.C.
Read more:
Seattle Times
