The Troubadour: A Busy Week on the New USS Voyager. Farpoint's First Programming Class Graduates. Scott's New Coat. The Imaginarium.

The Fourth Grade Tiger Squadron

It's been a busy and productive week at Farpoint. We're nearly finished taking our 3rd grade squadrons on their first missions into deep space. Tuesday brought the first of five 4th grade squadrons.

Wednesday's Phoenix Squadron's Captain and First Officer Learn Their Station from Isaac, Farpoint's Student Director

I've always said how beneficial it would be if I could bottle their enthusiasm. Calming them to the point where we can get anything done is the challenge, but after they're trained and launch - Watch Out. These fourth graders are unbeatable. Watching them work their way through their mission is like watching a real TV show. They are deadly serious, attentive, and determined to succeed.

The Tiger Squadron just before launch

Tiger Squadron's Command Team

Flying the new Voyager is different than my 23 years on the Voyager I at the CMSEC. At Renaissance we focus on a new concept called Long Duration Missions which differs from the field trip program offered at the CMSEC. Alpine District students get one two hour field trip during their time in elementary school. At Renaissance Academy I have 250 students divided into 27 squadrons. I meet with each squadron five times between January and May. This gives my team and I time to focus on curriculum and longer time in the ship. The LDM mission is episodic - one long mission broken into segments with trainings and briefings between each segment. It is what I always wanted to do at the Space Center but never could because it wasn't possible. The Space Center serves scores of elementary, middle, and high schools. I have one school to take care of. It is less stressful, but just as time consuming, if not more so :)
Contact me if you have questions about the new USS Voyager and are interested in getting involved.

Mr. Williamson
director@spacecamputah.org

Farpoint's First Programming Class Graduates

Renaissance Academy's Farpoint Space Education Center graduated its first class of up and coming programmers today. These soon to be well knowns successfully completed Google CS's eight week storytelling SCRATCH programming course. Dedication is the word to describe them. They were up and programming before dawn every Saturday morning for the last two months.

Standing with them are two of our volunteer guru's. Andrew and Chris were tremendous help, considering the only programming language I know is Apple's long dead Hypercard. My job during the length of the course was to supervise, offer praise, encouragement, and ensure none of these little genius did anything to threaten our national security. The guru's handled the technical stuff.

Our next class starts on Saturday.

Mr. Williamson

Scott's Cool Jacket
Scott is a supervisor at the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center. Scott has a cool new jacket he wears when he goes to work. Rumor has it he even wears it out in public. Scott is a true Trekkie.

Scott is cool.