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| Ammon's having a great time learning the basics |
Early Saturday morning, 54 of Renaissance Academy's best took their future in their hands and joined the Space Academy's Young Coders Club. Beginning coders got us off to a great start at 8:00 A.M. With 34 enrolled in the Beginning Club, my desks and tables were full. I had to put five in the hallway.
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| The Beginning Young Coders working on their music and sound coding |
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| Too many for my classroom so five did their coding in the hallway |
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| The GoogleCS Curriculum is outstanding. The students learn from Google instructors by video, then practice what they learned with their own SCRATCH accounts with MIT. |
I want to thank Patti Davis, Renaissance Academy's Office Manager, for saving my bacon. Late Friday night, just as I was preparing for bed, I ran through what I had to do early Saturday to get set up for the club. That's when I realized I'd forgotten to get the key to the computer cart. No computers, no coding club. I was in a pickle. Who ya gonna call? Patti Davis was my Ghostbuster.
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| Charles is learning how to make his 'Sprite' perform tasks in SCRATCH |
She assured me it wasn't a problem and she'd be there to give me the key at 7:30 A.M. That is what I call going above and beyond. Thank you Patti.
Helping me this year are two outstanding high school students, Alex Lyman and Livy Charles. They know how to code in SCRATCH so they handle the technical questions. I supervise, purchase the doughnuts, unlock the school, keep the class on schedule, and wander around the room offering praise and encouragement. We make a great team.
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| Livy and Alex helping the Intermediate Young Coders group. The Intermediate Young Coders meet right after the Beginning Club ends at 9:00 A.M. |
The Renaissance Space Academy sponsors five youth clubs and programs: The Young Astronauts for grades 3-6. The Voyager Club for grades 7-8. The Young Coders for grades 4 - 8. Farpoint Volunteers for grades 7 - 12, and Math Double Dosing for grade 6.
Renaissance Academy is a public K-8th grade charter school located across from IM Flash in Lehi, Utah. The school specializes in foreign language instruction and experiential learning. It is home to the Starship Voyager simulator and the Space Academy. Enrollment is open year round.
To learn more about the school visit the school's website, renacademy.org.
The Space Academy's Young Astronauts and Voyagers Depart Outpost 14 this Month
Aboard the Jumpship Voyager. Destination: the Red Giant Star Beetlejuice. Purpose: Classified Under Orders of the Terran Expeditionary Force
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| The 6th Grade Tiger Expeditionary Group for School Year 2018-2019 |
The 200 Young Astronauts and Voyagers at Renaissance Academy are spending November and December launching from Outpost 14. Their destination is the red giant star Beetlejuice. All twenty squadrons are under the command of the Terran Expeditionary Force, the scientific/military branch of Terran Space Command.
On most weekday afternoons you'll find a Space Academy squadron on the Jumpship Voyager's bridge working through their checklist. Their goal is a flawless launch. Good launches lead to good points and good points will take them closer to the coveted Top Team award.
Space Academy Officer Training Corps
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| Larry Vidinha |
Larry Vidinha is the middle school science teacher at Renaissance Academy. In his previous career, Mr. Vidinha was a Major in the United States Army. Mr. Vidinha has been named Commander of the Space Academy's Officer Training Corps, a division of the Young Astronauts and Voyager Clubs. Every Friday afternoon from 1:00 - 2:30 P.M. Major Vidinha will take two squadrons from the Young Astronauts and Voyager Clubs for officer training. This will include military basics like marching, leadership training, survival skills (in case of a crash landing on an inhospital world), map orienteering, giving precise orders, delegation, etc. Think of the Officer Training Corps as a mixture of junior ROTC with a heavy dose of science fiction.
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| Cadets from the Dragon Squadron learning how to parade in formation. |
From the Archives. The Space Center Journal
What it takes to keep the Space Center running. 180 staff and volunteers make up the team. Mr. Williamson makes a big mistake on the overnight camp. The Voyager is getting new chairs. Goodbye office chairs. They are a nightmare.
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| The Crew of the Voyager. Summer Camps 2007 |
Hello Troops,
A quick journal entry for last week. We hosted classes from Barratt and Cherry Hill Elementary Schools. Our private groups came from Ivy Hall Academy in Provo.
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| The Odyssey Crew learn their stations. Summer camp 2007 |
There is the financial side to Center operations and maintenance of the simulators and classrooms. We are working on the summer schedule and flyer. Once that is out -Watch Out for the incoming registrations. Add to this mixture the fact that new missions must be written and produced.
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| It's time for breakfast. It looks like the cadets slept well. |
I have one day a week to devote to this and lately I've been giving away the business days to schools that registered late and cried and begged for slots . I'm not complaining - I do this to myself so I have no one else to blame for my circumstances. We have a popular program thanks to the work of many. Your awesome work and dedication to the Center has made it what it is today and that creates a ton of work for me. Maybe I should blame all of you for this! Naw - it is pretty cool though isn't it? A little elementary school in the middle of
little Pleasant Grove has this one of a kind program maintained by dedicated staff and devoted volunteers. This is one of the best examples I know of selfless teamwork in action for a community's betterment.
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| Finishing up breakfast. From here, the cadets go to the gym to be divided into their simulators |
It isn't often you see Mr. Williamson make a mistake during a mission but I did on the last overnight mission. I've given standing orders that all missions end by 9:45 A.M. on Saturday morning. This gives me enough time to give out certificates and have the student complete the questionnaires. Last Saturday we were rolling along with the mission on Saturday morning. I glanced at my watch and saw 9:45 A.M. and thought to myself that I had another 25 minutes. My brain was in total automatic mode geared to Friday night.
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| The Odyssey Captain reading his orders of the day |
On Friday we rotated at 10:10 P.M. The Voyager kids went to the Magellan and the Magellan kids came to the Voyager and Galileo. As the clock approached 9:55 A.M.The realization hit me that it was Saturday morning and the camp ended in a few minutes. You've never seen the staff of the Voyager move as fast as they did Saturday morning getting the kids out of their uniforms and to the gym. Nobody said anything to me but I noticed there were a few smiles on their faces. I think people like to see the boss slip up on the odd occasion. My staff have standing orders to remind me of the time - any time.
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| An officer aboard the Galileo getting ready for launch. |
We are ordering new chairs for the Voyager bridge. Those office chairs are not working out.They squeak and need constant oiling. They spin around tempting students to do just that.The spinning causes the back of the chairs to come in contact with the wood. That is why the furniture on the Voyager is missing so much paint on chair level. The new chairs are futuristic in design and best of all they don't spin.
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| The forward section of the Galileo |
Well, math is about to start so I've got to draw this entry to a close. Thanks all for another successful week here at the Happiest Place on Earth!
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| The Phoenix First Officer |
Imaginarium Theater
The Best Gifs of the Week Edited for a Gentler Audience
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