The Christa McAuliffe Space Center's 2023-2024 Field Trip Season is Off and Running! Ways Our Space EdVenture Centers are Better Than Disneyland. The Imaginarium Theater

                          The Magellan on Opening Day. August 31, 2023

The Christa McAuliffe Space Center opened for the 2023-2024 field trip season on August 31.  All six simulators flew. Field trips are the life blood of the Space Center. They always have been.  Field trips introduce students to the Space Center.  That introduction paves the way for birthday party missions and summer space camps.  

The Cassini on Opening Day. August 31, 2023

The Galileo and Falcon on Opening Day. August 31, 2023

To the Space Center's staff and volunteers.  Your work this school year will brighten hundreds of days for thousands of students. You will energize thousands of imaginations with thoughts of what could be. You will motive many to work harder in school. You will encourage others to rush home to their computers and begin writing stories of people accomplishing the impossible in the vastness of space. Because of you, some students will look up to the stars and dream of wonders that await discovery. You will make a difference.

                  The Odyssey and Phoenix on Opening Day. August 31, 2023

All of this will happen because you are here. Be proud to work and volunteer at one of Earth's happiest places. 

From the Archives.  The First Blog Post Regarding the Opening for Field Trips.  

The first essay I wrote on the start of a field trip season was on Wednesday, September 24, 2008.  I'm mad at myself for losing the records from the old YahooGroup which contained our records from 2000 - 2008 and even madder at myself for not keeping records from 1990-1999.  You learn the importance of records as you get older. 

Let's step into the WayBack Machine and go back 15 years to the start of the 2008-2009 Field Trip Season...

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008

  

Hello Troops,
This is the eve of the Space Center's Official Opening for the 2008-2009 School Year. For the last couple days we've hosted our own school for the full four hour field trip. Central students are beneficial at helping us work the bugs out of our programs. They are the victims in our dress rehearsals and, in return for their patience, they don't pay. Well, all that ended this afternoon. Central is finished and tomorrow at 9:30 A.M. we open with our first school of the season - Westvale Elementary School.

The Phoenix

It is funny to be able to point to an exact date and time when your life disappears. You see, since July 31st I've either been on vacation or here, working on the new Children of Perikoi mission, scheduling classes and field trips, designing a web site, working on simulator repairs, spending too much money on everything from programming books to new simulators, etc. etc. etc.  This is the time of year when I can arrive at the Space Center at 8:00 A.M. and go home between 6:00 - 7:00 P.M. because private missions are the only programs we offer this time of year. All of that will change tomorrow. 

 The Classroom Lesson

At 9:30 A.M. tomorrow, September 25, we are open nearly every school day running one or two field trip sessions per day (missions, classes, and Starlab Planetarium shows).  School Field Trip 1 starts at 9:30 A.M. and ends at 1:35 P.M.  School Field Trip 2 starts at 2:00 P.M. and ends at 6:00 P.M.  Things are hopping around here with little down time.  I'm thankful for a supportive staff and fantastic volunteers who make it all run like clockwork.

The Voyager

Don't misunderstand me, I love my job and wouldn't have it any other way but I still find it interested that everything will change at an exact point in time and stay that way until another exact point in time at the end of May.

The Odyssey

We tired something new today on the Voyager school mission. For the first time in years and years we had a doctor on the bridger in addition to the staff. One of our staff set up a sick bay in the Captain's Quarters right off the bridge. During the mission, Lorraine sent "injured" crew into the sickbay for a quick scan and a tasty M and M. It worked well and gave crew members a welcome stand up and stretch during the mission. She looked for those a bit bored and sent them in for a dose of attention. It also worked well for attack scenes. Now we can thin down the number of students at the working stations thus increasing the stress level for those that remain. We will try to implement the Field Trip Doctor whenever staffing will allow.

Well, It is time to go home and enjoy the rest of Worker's Eve Day. I'll see many of you here in the trenches tomorrow. Sleep well and dream of the campaigns to come.

Mr. Williamson

A Few Ways Utah Valley's Space EdVenture Centers are Better than Disneyland

Hello Troops,
Take a minute and let me share a few thoughts I've had on ways our Space EdVenture Centers are better than Disneyland.

Many times throughout the years we've all heard Space Center visitors say,"This is better than Disneyland!". Each time I hear that I wonder how that can possibly be! Disneyland has everything from expensive, imaginative rides to restaurants and shopping. The parks are squeaky clean. The sets effectively transport you from the daily grind to the world of imagination. I'm an admirer of everything Disney. So...... being a fan (I don't own a pair of Mickey ears so I don't consider myself a FANatic) I'm honored to hear such things but really couldn't, until now, accept the statements as truth.

Today I'm going to compare and contrast the best theme park in the world to our humble log cabin approach here in Utah County. I could write a small book on the subject but today I'll share my greatest realization.

I noticed that when people get off a Disney ride they speak briefly about the experience. You hear things like: "That was awesome," to "I think I'm sick," to "That wasn't what I expected," to "That drop almost gave me a heart attack!". You also hear them talk about others in their group:
"Did you see mom's face?" and "I thought Dad was going to throw up!"

The ride discussion quickly ends and the family starts talking about the next meal or hurting feet or exclamations to hurry to get the next ride. The ride discussion ends quickly because every participant had THE EXACT SAME EXPERIENCE! They were side by side. They all saw the same thing, heard the same sounds, smelled the same smells, and jumped at the same time.  You've been there so you know what I'm talking about.

Now compare that to a group leaving one of our simulators after a fun 2.5 or 5 hour mission. Read the points I make below and see if I'm spot on with this observation:

• We hear from moms that their children talk about their missions all the way home and then for days afterword - Why?
• Each person on a Space Center mission gets a different ride! Think about it. You have the captain who experiences a somewhat different mission than a security officer. Each person picks up certain story points that others don't because everyone does a different job.
  
• Only by sharing your mission experience with the team does a team begin to understand the entire mission. A mission is like a jigsaw puzzle. Only by putting the pieces together do you get to see the picture.
• Humans are story tellers. That is what we like to do when we get together. Think about your family gatherings. The adults set around and tell stories to each other. Think about the time you spend with your friends. Don't you tell each other stories? That's right, you're sharing your daily experiences and insights. If we don't have stories to tell, the conversation turns silent and we move on to another group where stories are still being shared.

We have these stories because we all experience a different aspect to life. Are you getting my point? We are one up on Disney in one very important aspect - our 'rides' give everyone something different. In addition to that - our rides continue well beyond the time spent in the ships. The mission residue continues for years to come as stories pass from person to person on the semi-shared experience.

This is the magic of the Space Center!  What are your thoughts? Share them if you would using the 'comment' feature of the Google Classroom.

Ad Astra!
Mr. Williamson

Imaginarium Theater

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