From the Archives: Pictures and Posts from the Past 2003-2007. What a Summer Camp Season Looked Like. The Odyssey is Too Loud - Librarian On the Rampage. Was the School's New Computer Lab Going to be a Ship? Plus Many Pictures From the Day. Imaginarium Theater.

Summer Space Camp Swimming
Amanda, Metta, Caity, Megan

What the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center Summer Space Camp Season Looked Like Sixteen Years Ago

March 3, 2003

Hello Troops,
     In today's Posts from the Past series I'm posting the summer space camp season as it appeared in the CMSEC's YahooGroup SpaceEdVentures on March 3, 2003.  The overnighters each took 42 campers. The 40 Hour Camps each took between 42 and 62 campers each.  It was a very busy place back in the day.  The "Astrocamp" references refered to our partnership with the Astrocamp in Ogden, Utah. We sponsored two joint space camps every summer.  The campers started at Astrocamp on a Monday and bussed to the CMSEC on the Thursday for our 40 Hour Camp.  

Campers arriving at the CMSEC for a 48 Hour camp. July 2007

Space Center closed from June 1 to June 9, 2003
June 10-12: 40 Hour Camp 1
June 13-14: Overnight Camp 1
June 17-19: 40 Hour Camp 2
June 20-21: Overnight Camp 2
June 24-26: 40 Hour Camp 3
June 27-28: Overnight Camp 3
June 30-July 2: Day Camp 1
July 3-9: Space Center Closed
July 10-12: 48 Hour Camp 1 (Astrocamp)
July 15-16: Overnight Camp 4
July 17-19: 48 Hour Camp 2 (Astrocamp)
July 21-23: Day Camp 2
July 25-26: Overnight Camp 5
July 29-31: 40 Hour Camp 4
August 1-2: Overnight Camp 6
August 3-18: Space Center Closed
August 22-23: Overnight Camps begin for normal Friday schedule.

Summer campers arriving for a 48 hour camp. July 2007

Space Center Journal 
We Celebrate the YahooGroups 3rd Birthday. The Odyssey is Too Loud and the Librarian is on the Warpath.Brady Chaperones for the First Time. Randy the King of the Snores and Sleep Talkers. Bill Schuller Donates an Aquarium to the School. Central's Current Computer Lab was Going to Also be a Simulator.

March 17, 2003

Hello Troops,
     A couple of electronic milestones this week. Our Egroup is a young three years old and we launched the new Space Center Web Site on March 12th. It was unveiled with no fanfare, just a simple line of code on Kyle Herring's part and we parted company with the old and introduced the world to the new. Introduced the world is no overstatement if you consider the emails I get from many parts of the United States and beyond. Still waiting for the ultimate email. I can see myself sitting back in my chair with headphones on when suddenly "You've Got Mail!" and we have CONTACT! With my luck it would be the Paklids looking for a good Chinese take out. 

The Galileo is ready for the campers

     

     This Journal is a place where I record things for our collective memory - good, bad, and annoying. Speaking of annoying - how about the Odyssey's close proximity to the school's library? We've been working with Janet  Schiller (the school's librarian) since the beginning of the school year trying to find ways to reduce the sound bleed through from the Odyssey's control room. I should of taken the matter seriously before Janet reached the point of no return. 

     

     She had a word with the principal and Mrs. Green had a word with me. I was asked in a very nice way to find a way to muzzle the Odyssey. I wondered how that would work. A few weeks ago I wrote about running a mission without electricity but this would present a new challenge, running a mission with no sound. I suppose we could do everything through headphones or all of us could learn American Sign Language. That would also required the teaching of the language to our campers as part of their mission training. 

Training for a 5 hour mission in the Galileo. July 2007

     
     Training time would be increased from 30 minutes to several months or more for a private two and one half hour mission. Costly and not practical but you all know me - I always consider all alternatives before a course of action is taken. 

     Our solution was both novel and imaginative, we turned down the sound. Everyone is happy. Janet has been seen wandering the school with a noticeable smile and the nervous twitching around her eyes has stopped. Chris Call, Josh Babb, and Landon Hemsley are more relaxed knowing that the Odyssey and library have learned to peacefully coexist. I wonder if there is a lesson to be learned in that. Could a solution to the tension between the US and Iraq be solved if we brought a very irate librarian into the negotiations? 

In the Odyssey (Invictus for that summer mission) July 2007

The Odyssey when not the Invictus

     
     We celebrated four birthdays during the bedtime break on the overnighter. Brady Young, Jennifer Remy, Ben Hoglund, and Joey Storey stood before the staff and volunteers, their faces lit by the candles on the red devils food cake Lorraine Houston made (and I mean red - yummy and really red!). They were serenaded by two birthday songs. The females on our staff sang the traditional Happy Birthday song and the male staff sang the Primary Happy Birthday song. Sounds like that are rare in Pleasant Grove although I was told that several car alarms were triggered mysteriously at 11:45 P.M. Friday evening around Central Elementary School. 

The Voyager Crew. Summer Camps July 2007

The Voyager's Science Defense Station

     
     The overnight mission went well. Brady Young did something he has never done before. He chaperoned! He says he doesn't want to do it again but at least he did it once. He even had a pretty good crew, boys from Lehi and Cherry Hill Elementary Schools. I even slept well (which is unusual for me on an overnight camp knowing that I'm responsible for 60 people sleeping over at a school) except for a brief wake up at 4:00 A.M. because of Randy Jepperson's combined snoring and sleep talking. It was nothing my ultra bright flashlight couldn't take care of. From across the room I hit him with full brilliance. I find the light 
can wake most snorers up. Randy snorted once, rambled on a few more sentences and turned over and peace was reestablished. 

The Voyager Right Wing Sensors / Scanning Station

Damage Control Officer Training for a 5 hour summer camp rotation on the Voyager

     
     Central Elementary received a very nice gift Wednesday evening from Bill Schuler. Bill's grandmother passed away recently and left Bill with a small amount of money as an inheritance. In tribute to his grandma, Bill bought a 90 gallon aquarium and set it up in the school's foyer. His grandma loved fish and children so the gift of an aquarium seem appropriate. Everyone was surprised by the gift. Next time you come to the Center, take a moment to watch the fish and our little blue crawdad. Thank you Bill on behalf of the Space 
Center and Central Elementary School. 

Great Food was always a part of the summer camps. Thank you Aleta!
Campers eating supper before heading to the swimming pool
July 2007

     Summer registration has begun. The flyer went on the web March 12th. Yesterday (Saturday) I enrolled our first campers who sent their registrations through the mail. Kyle has created an impressive post card to be mailed to all former campers. This week we will print up the post cards and bring in a crew to attach the mailing labels typed up last Saturday by our great crew of volunteers. The post cards tell the campers to go to the internet to print up a registration form. That saves the Center money. We won't print up flyers for everyone and we save money on postage by using post cards instead of envelopes.

     
One last thing, we've been told that there will be a new computer lab in the addition to Central. Construction begins at the end of April. Mrs. Green told me that we had the green light to make plans to design the lab to be a simulator with the idea that the Falcon would be closed and relocated in the new lab. We are going to look over the plans for the new lab (the room is much larger than the current Magellan) and can then start the imagineering. I'll keep everyone updated as developments occur. 

     Thank you all for your support and labor. I know many of our staff are not feeling well. There is a bug going around. Here is a collective "Get Well!" wish from us all.

Mr. Williamson

"The Space Center is a Really Great Place," Says Brady Young

March 26, 2003

Hello Everyone,
     It's me Brady again and I have a little something to say about the Space Center. WHAT A GREAT PLACE!!!!!!!!!!! This is such a great place for education on space and real life morals. I was working a private mission after school today and I was on the bridge. I was standing there by the spiral stairs, looking at all the computers and listening to Mr.
Williamson speaking to the ambassador as the Stazi Chancellor. It occured to me how lucky we all are to be able to come and volunteer to work here. This is the only simulation center of its kind in the entire world! We are especially lucky because we all live so close to it. How could a place like this end up in a little town called Pleasant Grove. That just blows my mind.  Without the Space Center we probably wouldn't know each other. 

     What a great place this is. I would like to invite all of you to post your comments on the center and thank Mr. Williamson, Mr. Daymont, Mr. Schuller, and Mrs. Houston who have been here from the beginning for all of their hard work and dedication to making this place a success. THANK YOU!!!

Brady Young

Imaginarium Theater
The Best Videolettes from around the World Edited for a Gentler Audience.