From the Daily Herald. Possibilities for the Space Center's Future

Hello Troops,

This article appeared in today's edition of the Provo Daily Herald.  It covers several items discussed in our last Space Center Committee meeting and comments made to the reporter during the last board meeting.  My comments are added in blue.  This article was written by Caleb Warnock, a reporter for the Daily Herald.   Mr. W.

 PLEASANT GROVE -- Alpine School District's condemned space center might find a second life as a magnet school.

I'm glad to see my suggestion has some support.  Magnet schools are fairly common in school districts nationwide.  I see a Space Center magnet school focusing on blending math, science and technology with the humanities.  For ten years the heading of our blog has said "The Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center; A Utah Arts, Sciences, Math, Technology Initiative".  This school would be open to students district wide.  Can you imagine the public's interest in such a school?  Imagine going to a school anchored by futuristic starship simulators.   The demand to get into such a school would be overwhelming.

The Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center was closed a month ago over safety concerns. In a recent board meeting, district officials and board members said they are mulling this opportunity to create something much larger out of the space center program.

"Maybe the space center is more than what it currently does," assistant superintendent Rob Smith said. "Maybe there could be a zero gravity room. Maybe a 100-seat theater."

We can't switch off gravity.  I believe he may have meant a display that simulates alternate gravities.  Clark Planetarium once had a device which simulated the moon's gravity.  The moon's gravity is 1/6  that of Earths.  You were strapped in this device which counter balanced away 5/6th of your weight. Such a device would be an excellent addition to the new Center.   

A robotics and math program, sponsored by IM Flash Technologies, could be part of the new plan, he said. There is a great new for space for students to focus on match competitions, robotics and technology classes.
"It would take it from a fourth- to sixth-grade program to a secondary program, a magnet for the whole district," board member JoDee Sundberg said.

The elementary grade program would not be eliminated.  It is intended the new Center would continue to use simulators.  These other programs would be offered for junior and senior high school students.  The Space Center would be a field trip site for most grades. 

"I think it has some great possibilities," Smith said.

Property was purchased four or five years ago to build a new space center, but the public, in hearings before the last bond, told board members they did not want the district spending money on a space center redo.

"It was the intent of the board to have it on the bond, and it was not received by the public," Sundberg said. "I think that has to be remembered. It was always the intent of the board to do something about it."

We didn't have an organized effort to advocate for the Space Center on the bond.  I asked our supporters not to rally for the Space Center believing there was enough money in the bond to meet all the District's needs, including a new Space Center.  I wasn't concerned after the Space Center was taken off the bond.  The District put out a statement saying a new Space Center would be built with capital money towards the latter part of this decade.    

Since the center was closed, however, public sentiment has shifted toward the nostalgic in a big way.
"People have been emailing me by the kazillion," board member Paula Hill said. "We recognize the community attachment and we are doing everything we can to facilitate it."

"Absolutely, we recognize the attachment and the community value," Superintendent Vern Henshaw said.

North of Central Elementary in Pleasant Grove, the district purchased and razed an old church with the intention of building a space center on the property when funds became available. But when voters did not want the space center on the bond, work had to be delayed.  Now, the district has formed a committee to explore options for the space center, with a report due in February or March.

We meet again on November 28.

Originally the district sought to budget $1.5 million for the rebuild, but has now raised that to $2.5 million, which does not include the price of property.

"We upped it because we are looking at other possibilities," Smith said. "We are asking ourselves, is it adequate? Is there anything we should add to it? We turn a lot of kids away at the space center" because of space limitations.

A new facility with four large simulators will allow the Space Center to take four classes a day on field trips.  This will double the number of students we currently take.

"We are just simply exploring all options," Henshaw said. "It isn't necessarily that it has to be on that property. The scope of it might be larger than what that is."
The property could be used to expand Central Elementary instead, and the district could purchase a larger property for the space center.

It would be sad to leave Central School.  

The center, named after the teacher who died on the space shuttle Challenger, began as a classroom experiment by Victor Williamson, who teaches at Central Elementary School in Pleasant Grove. Starting with nothing more than an overhead projector, Williamson took his students on a simulated space journey and found that they not only enjoyed the learning experience, but retained information better than they did when taught conventionally.

I did my first classroom space simulation in the spring of 1984.  I still have the original scripts and plastic overlays for the overhead projector.  Someone once told me, "Be careful what you wish for, it may come true."  Look how this simple classroom experiment has evolved. 

Through grants and donations, Williamson was able to build a more advanced and larger scale program at the school until year by year the space center became known statewide and then nationally as a space education center. At its annual scheduled maintenance check in August, however, the local fire marshal discovered several electrical issues that needed to be resolved. There were other issues with simulators that had to be changed and updated to meet city and state codes, so the district shuttered it for the time.

A Collection of Memories. Happy Thanksgiving and Mrs. Houston's Photographs

Hello Troops,
Happy Thanksgiving to our Space Center staff, volunteers and fans!

Today I'm thankful for family and friends.  I'm thankful for the twenty-two years I spent with outstanding dedicated staff and volunteers in a happy place we call 'The Space Center'.  I'm thankful for the 310,000 people who came through our doors on voyages of imagination.  I'm grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support this program has received over the past several weeks.  Your support has played, and will continue to play, an important role as we consider the Space Center's future.  There are many decisions to be made.  How much of the old will stay as we envision the new?  What direction do we take as we chart a course into unknown territory?  I'll rely on your input as we forge ahead.  The school district's Space Center committee meets in full on November 28.

The Williamson's will be converging on my sister's home in Pleasant Grove.  Family has come from near and far for the event.

You never know what you'll get at a Williamson holiday gathering.  In the best of times,  the event could pass peacefully with little to report other than Great Grandma Luella managing to keep a portion of her meal on her plate and off her blouse and the children survive with little or no blood loss.

In the worst of times, there could be fireworks if family members aren't strategically positioned around the Thanksgiving table.  I'm hoping my sister remembers to seat our family's few remaining independents between the rabid Republics and the Peace, Land and Bread Democrats.  Great Grandma Luella has already been chastised by my sister Lisa for attempting to covert my twelve year old niece to socialism.  Great Grandma has been brushing up for this holiday reunion by watching hundreds of hours of PBS and CSPAN.

We sometimes have a problem with religion.  Not only must my sister separate family members with strong political views, she must also take into consideration the family's diverse religious beliefs as she sets out the name places around the table.  Those who favor reincarnation are generally tolerated by the liberals.  They will be sat at the end of the table.  Our Mormon majority are too numerous to separate so they must be sub categorized by conviction.  Forgiving, back of the chapel Mormons, are good to mix with the minority agnostics.  Front row, hymn singing Mormons are good to sit near the old people's section at the front of the table.  It makes it easy for calling on someone to offer the Thanksgiving blessing on the food.

One of my jobs at all holiday reunions is to monitor the gathering and inject myself into any conversation or situation that appears to be approaching the boiling point.  My 30 years in the classroom uniquely qualifies me for the task.  I know the family very well, having been a part of it  for 54 years, and can generally detect the raising of voices quickly enough to bolt across the room, squeeze inbetween the combatants and turn a phrase fast enough to cool the waters and redirect the conversation's flow.  I've been brushing up on anecdotes and feel confident I can keep things civil and peaceful until everyone goes home to debate whether or not they'll ever go to another gathering again.
 I have the nuclear option if my efforts to keep the peace fail.  I walk over to Great Grandpa Charlie, pull him away from the poor soul he's trapped in a conversation for 30 minutes, and tell him that So and So had a question on the how to prepare for the fast approaching apocalypse.

"You've come to the right person," he'll say as he hobbles across the crowded room to find his new prey.

Great Grandpa Charlie believes the world will end by the end of the year.  He has believed the world will end at the end of every year since 1968, which is why he purchased six acres of farmland in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

"We won't starve if I keep the land," he answers proudly whenever asked why he doesn't sell the land and pocket the profit.  His survival plans unravel when we press him for details on how we are suppose to get to South Dakota if things suddenly head south and starving mobs ravage neighborhoods.  

Anyway.......  I'm hoping you and yours have a very enjoyable day.   

And now, a few pictures from Mrs. Houston's Space Center photo album.

      

Mrs. Houston teaching the field trip class in 1995.  

The Odyssey's entrance is at the back of the room.  We didn't have the Discovery Room or the Phoenix Simulator back then.  The class session was held in Mr. Williamson's office.  Teaching was difficult because of the simulator noises coming from the Odyssey and Voyager.  Notice the old 1956 light fixtures in the ceiling.  Once we had a boy tell us how cool and futuristic they were.  I suppose anything could be futuristic if you've never seen it before. 

 Summer Camp 2001

The campers are on the playground mapping the distances of the planets from the sun and each other.

Launching rockets with Mrs. Remy during summer camp.  2001

The Falcon Team from the summer of 2001.

The Falcon is gone, replaced by the Phoenix.  The Falcon sat inside 

one of the Starlab bubbles.  It was run by Mr. Schuler, Mrs. Houston, Stacy Carrel, 

and Joshua Babb.  It was a real hassle.  The Falcon had to be assembled every Friday afternoon as soon as school let out, then taken apart and put away after every overnight camp. 

Mr. Daymont with another crew of the Falcon.  The campers were from Astrocamp, our sister center in Ogden.  Summer 2001 

Summer Camp 2001

Mr. Daymont with our campers at Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City

Two volunteers dressed in our new Greenpeace costumes designed and sewn by Mrs. Houston

2000

Two volunteers in newly sewn alien costumes.

1998

Mrs. Clegg, the Space Center's curriculum specialist in the Discovery Room setting up

for a field trip lesson.

Randy Jepperson catching a few zzzz's in the newly opened Discovery Room.

I'm striking a happy pose outside the newly installed Odyssey dark room door.

 Some have their security blanket.  I have my Diet Coke.  I can't go anywhere without one.

 

Here I am on the Voyager Bridge waxing poetic before the start of a field trip mission.

2001

Here I am again teaching my pre-algebra class in 1999.

My assignment was to direct the Space Center when the Center first opened in 1990.  

I volunteered to teach the math class to help the school's sixth grade.  I'm still teaching the class every morning from 9:00 to 10:30 A.M.

I taught the class in my office before the Phoenix was built.  The class moved to the Discovery Room after the Phoenix opened.

One of the Space Center's Honor's Nights.

I'm presenting the Silver Chalice of Zod to Kirby Glad, a great Space Center supporter.

The Silver Chalice of Zod was named after the Chalice Dr. Marcus brags about in every Supernova Mission on the Voyager or Phoenix.

 Another Honor's Night in the Magellan

Pillowcases are being awarded to volunteers who reached the 500 hour volunteer level.

This was taken shortly after the Magellan opened.  This was before we had the Discovery Room.  The door behind me led directly to the Control Room.  Notice the old computers and the very old main view screen.

A later Honor's Night in the Discovery Room.  Pillowcases are being awarded.

The volunteers came up with this strange tradition of covering their heads for the picture. 

Fun for them, impossible to tell who they are for posterity.

 A photograph of me and a few very old staff from our 15th anniversary celebration in 2005

Russell Smith, Tony Grover, Jake Mattson, Kyle Sanderson and Clint Sanderson.

Two Space Center legends, David Merrill and Tony Grover

A Sister Ship Under Construction in Pennsylvania. Video Gaming and Education. Space News Update

Hello Troops,
Two posts in one day; wow, what did you do to deserver that?

I received an email from Gary Gardiner a few days ago.  Several photos were attached to the email detailing the construction of Gary's second simulator under construction in a large Pennsylvania elementary school with an $80,000 grant. The simulator will house 16 students.  You'll notice it is a multilevel bridge with one of our trademark spinning doors.

"We rescued that door from the dump," Gary told me in a telephone conversation earlier today. "They are difficult to find."

Gary has done extensive research in simulation education (it sounds a bit funny doesn't it?  Simulated education :)   His impressive research can be found on his web site http://dreamflightadventures.com/blog/ 

Gary programmed his ship in Unity.  The tactical screen is controlled by the ship's controls.  His ship can function as a starship, a submarine and an inner body ship.  Be sure to check out his missions listed on his web site.   Each mission integrates the curriculum into the story line - something curriculum managers like to see.

I've invited Gary to partner with us as we work together to change the educational world.

This is Gary's email:

Hi Victor,
I just posted an update on the Dream Flight Adventures blog about our project replicating the Space Center's magic here in Pittsburgh, and I wanted to send you and the rest of the Space Center fans an update on our progress.  Please feel free to share this as a guest post on the Troubador, if you'd like. 

For those of you just joining the action, my name is Gary Gardiner, and as a kid in 5th grade the Space Center caught my imagination and never let go.  I volunteered at the Space Center during college, and now that life has brought me and my family across the country to Pittsburgh I'm excitedly working to replicate the Space Center's magic in my neck of the woods.  Our first simulator is currently being installed inside the incredible Shaler Area Elementary School, which serves over 1,100 4th-6th graders. 

The simulator uses off-the-shelf tech components, including iPads, as well as my own custom 3D computer software (which I programmed myself, using skills I learned because of my inspiration at the Space Center so many years ago).  The simulator goes into outer space, back in time, under the sea, inside the body... wherever we can imagine.  It provides an excellent medium for storytelling, and I'm so excited to see the Space Center's unique blend of magic reaching another generation of kids. 

Here are some pics of the construction progress, and I'll be posting additional details on our blog:  http://dreamflightadventures.com/blog/.  I'll also be sure to chime in on the Troubador with updates as they occur.

           Gary 

  

Gary sent the following article on video gaming and student learning which I found interesting.  A short clipping from the article is below along with the link.

The popularity of video games is not the enemy of education, but rather a model for best teaching strategies. Games insert players at their achievable challenge level and reward player effort and practice with acknowledgement ofincremental goal progress, not just final product. The fuel for this process is the pleasure experience related to the release of dopamine.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/video-games-learning-student-engagement-judy-willis

Space News
Mark Daymont, Space Center Educator
From his blog,  Spacerubble.blogspot.com

ISS Expedition 33 Readies for Trip Home

Making a mess in the Destiny Module.

Ever notice how things get a little messy when you get ready for a trip? Looks like that's true off the planet as well as at home. Expedition 33 crew members Sunni WIlliams, Aki Hoshide, and Yuri Malenchenko are preparing everything they need for their upcoming flight home to Earth. 

On Saturday, Commander WIlliams will turn over command to astronaut Kevin Ford in the official Change of Command Ceremony. On Sunday, the three Expedition crew members will undock from the iSS in their Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft for the de-orbit burn and re-entry through the atmosphere. Once they undock, Commander Ford will then officially be leading Expedition 34, along with cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin.

Expedition 34 will receive the second part of their crew in mid-December.

Unmanned Progress Resupply ship approaches ISS.

On November 1, Russia launched a Soyuz rocket lifting the Progress M-17M unmanned supply spacecraft into orbit. The trajectory of this mission enabled the craft to fly the "shortcut" path to dock with the ISS only a few hours later. The success of this mission paves the way to launching manned Soyuz capsules on the same trajectory in the near future, thus saving hours of cramped claustrophobic flight in the Soyuz craft. This Progress capsule brings astronaut supplies, and station life support and fuel supplies. Later the same day, another Progress ship docked at the station used its maneuvering thrusters to boost the ISS orbit in order to dodge some space debris.