BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Tuesday was the first day of STARBASE Academy and Sherwood Elementary School fifth graders were there to explore Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) activities.
- Dept. of Defense program targets at-risks fifth graders
- It is designed to motivate children to get into STEM
The academy is at a newly renovated, state-of-the-art Patrick Space Force Base building. And it is a great place to learn as 11-year-old Tinslee Morgan is absorbing the camp like a sponge.
"I want to work on rocket engines," she said, who wants to be an aerospace engineer when she grows up. "You can't accomplish what you want on the first try, you have to improve and redesign and innovate."
The STARBASE Academy is a Department of Defense national educational program that targets at-risks fifth graders to help motivate them to explore STEM.
"I really want it to feel like we are igniting hope in these kids," says STARBASE Executive Director Charles Parker, who is a former engineering director at Merritt Island High School.
He is leading a six-member team of teachers to guide the students in a 25-hour curriculum to learn about space exploration and aviation.
"They are learning how to measure things but also scenarios, that are not only hands on, but practical," he says.
"This really fits our mission … we are about inspiring kids," says Jim Christensen of the Aldrin Family Foundation.
The foundation's goal is 'cultivating' the next generation to strive for the stars. Part of it is providing Giant Mars maps for the students to study.
Christensen says it is not just for the children who are already excited about STEM.
"It's also about the kids who haven't thought of this as a possibility," he said.
Morgan says a big lesson she is learning is to stick with it.
"You can't expect to succeed, you have to keep trying," she says.
