A Message from Mrs. Houston and an Update on the Simulator Program in Pennsylvania

Hello Troops,

We start the week with a windy Monday. 

Did I mention how much I enjoy my nice warm trailer?  The only sounds I hear are the trailer's heater, my keyboard and the wind as it blows in another winter storm. A trailer classroom is a blessing for a more independent minded teacher.


First, a short email to the staff and volunteers from Mrs. Houston.

Dear Staff,    
My heart is breaking for all in this community, the loss of innocent children,  dedicated teachers and a principal.  These are the kind of wonderful people I work with every day.  I try not to think of the fear these little ones may have felt, and pray it was brief.  I prefer to ponder upon the knowledge that the Savior was there and received  them into his open arms where they felt completely safe and loved.We are left with the horror of this senseless act as we try to understand how a young man who was not much more than a child himself could do this.  The key is found in replacing our fears and ignorance with knowledge.  Victor is right, look around you and see who needs a kind word, encouragement, or a friend.  Notice the unnoticed, make a difference.  We have bullies on our playground as young as six years old,  we need to take action to help especially them before things get out of control.  We all need to feel accepted and needed, and I know that our staff at the Center are the best examples of this in the district.  Thank you staff for being wonderful in every way,  you are simply the best!
With lots of love for every one of you!

Lorraine

Secondly, a few pictures from a test run mission in a classroom of the school where a new simulator is under construction in Pennsylvania.  Gary Gardiner,The director of the Pennsylvania, program wrote:

 Today I had the honor of running two live demo missions at the Shaler Elementary.  The first featured Mike Penn's GATE students, and the second featured a joint crew of GATE and Special Ed students.  We had about 35 kids in all, and both crews did a fantastic job.  The enthusiasm was so thick in the air that we had to use snorkels to breathe.  If the kids are this excited to run a 30-minute demo mission in their normal classroom, I can't wait to see their faces when they enter the real simulator when it's fully decked in all its glory of light, sound, and effects!

Here are some icky blurry photos of the kids in action.  My apologies for the low-quality photos.  Next time I'll bring Vera, my shiny new Nikon D5100.

Throughout the day we were pleased to be visited by Dr. Shipley, the SASD's superintendent, as well as a whole slew of enthusiastic teachers from throughout the school who wanted to see what all the mystery and buzz has been about.  The time simply flew by (just ask the kids!), but there will be plenty of other demonstrations down the road for those who missed it.  It was magical, to say the least.

                  

The Staff Came a'Caroling.

The staff and volunteers snapped this photo

of me just as I opened the door and realized I was

about to be savaged by a gaggle of carolers

Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
My checkbook sat by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas would bring money this year;

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter.
Away to the door I flew like a flash,
Peaked out the window and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my horrified eyes did appear,
But a gaggle of staff and a few tiny volundeers

With a gasp and a prayer I had to be quick,
They knew I was home,  I was going to be sick.
More rapid than eagles I opened my door
Saw them, heard them, and shut it as before.

"Now, Mr. Williamson, don't be a Vixen!
Open that door, for we are fixin
To sing and sing you a Christmas Cheer
that will warm your heart and release a tear.

I begged them to stop.  I clutched at my head
They sang on and on which caused such a dread.
I knew my neighbors would take such a fright.
their singing would go on and on and on all night.
 
Two songs in and some time for talk
I convinced them to leave for I was in shock.
 My bah humbug mood was severely battered
And my life forever and ever shattered;
By those lovely carols, so destroyed;
left my heart,  a sterile void.

Yes, my home was caroled last night around 9:00 P.M.  It took me nearly thirty minutes to clean up the holiday cheer they left oozing around my front steps and door.  I shut the door the minute I realized I was in their line of sight.  They forced it back open.
 
Their strained version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" was accompanied by the howling of the neighbor's dog.  I thanked them for braving the cold to come visit their old boss and wished them well.  It wasn't enough.  They still wanted to sing.

Silent Night was their next attempt.  I couldn't recognize the key, and knew it was Silent Night only because of the lyrics.  I had to do something fast before the police arrived to investigate the disturbance.  I started signing a different carol. I don't remember what it was. I was in a state of shock that they had gotten ME to sing. 

They finally left me to my peace and returned to the work house.  I shut the door making a mental note to contact the work house warden and speak to him about his security.  Then something strange happened.  For a moment's moment, I think I felt what I can only describe as gratitude for their willingness to drive to Pleasant Grove to sing to their old boss.
 
I believe my stone cold heart pushed a bit of blood through my rarely used circulatory system.  I felt this warm rush overcome me.  Luckily the feeling passed nearly as quickly  as it had arrived. I returned to my small coal fire and bowl of lukewarm potato soup.  The light of the lone candle I allow myself on a cold winter's night,  flickered against the walls of my musty living room.

"Humbug," I muttered as I searched for bit of underdone potato in the murky liquid.

The stub of a candle flickered at the same moment a sound penetrated through the front door.  It was the sound of a chain being dragged against the concrete.  I stopped in mid stir - wondering if the staff, drunk with holiday cheer, had returned to stab me in the heart with a wreath of holly. 

For a moment I thought I heard my name whispered, or was it the wind outside?

Prayers for Those Taken. Your Questions and Comments. News. The Imaginarium

Hello Troops,

I begin this post by honoring the students, teachers and administration of Sandy Hook Elementary whose lives were cut short by a very disturbed young man's senseless act of violence.

I heard of the shootings while teaching at Shelley Elementary Friday afternoon.  The news stunned and saddened me.  Thinking about what happened to those poor people made me homesick for a place that doesn't exist. A place where people love and care for each other.  A place where innocence is protected; not by laws, but by our God given moral compass.  Thinking of those lives lost made me yearn for a place where children are safe anywhere, anytime.  

I looked differently at the young children I was teaching and the ones who walked by me in the school's halls.  I noticed their energy and their love of life and learning.  I couldn't comprehend how anyone could take perverted pleasure in destroying those lives just started and the lives of their caregivers.

How can we stop this from happening again?  Some say the answer is to ban certain types of guns;  Maybe yes and maybe no. I'm sure there will be a national conversation about this.  However, there is something I can do personally.  I can smile more.  I can care more.  I can reach out to young people struggling with life's issues.  I can watch for bullying.  I can urge my local, state and national lawmakers to provide more funding for mental health services.  The troubled people in our communities need professional help before they do something terribly irreversible to themselves and to others.

Sandy Hook Elementary could have been any one of our schools.  I pray this doesn't happen again.

Mr. W.

An Update from the Space Center Committee      

The Space Center Committee met again Thursday in the Space Center's Discovery Room.

A Review:
1.  An update on a possible Thanksgiving Point Partnership; so far the proposal is inconclusive.  The
     school district's business department is looking at the proposal.  The devil is in the details.
2.  Keeping the Center in Pleasant Grove was also discussed.  The committee is sensitive to the fact that
     Pleasant Grove has been the home to the Center for 22 years.  I've been asked to contact Pleasant
     Grove City to see if there is something the city could do financially to help keep the Center here.
3.  The Maintenance Department has the bids in to demolish the Odyssey.  $15,000 is the final number.
     That includes restoring the Briefing Room into a functioning classroom.
4.  Casey Voeks gave a power point proposal outlining the creation of a Space Center Foundation.
     The Space Center Foundation would be an independent organization.  Its mission would be to
     advance the mission of the Space Center, protect the Space Center brand, and assist organizations
     interested in using simulations in education.  He proposed the following:

• The Space Center Foundation would lease the simulators at Central Elementary School from the Alpine School District after school hours and on weekends.  
• The Foundation would assume all liability for the lease.  
• The Foundation would operate the Space Center's Guilds.
• The Foundation would run private missions, weekend camps, summer camps, merit badge classes, and Super Saturdays.
• The Foundation would operate an astronomy outreach program to the schools.  
• The Space Center's employees not involved in the daytime field trip operations of the Space Center would become employees of the Space Center Foundation.   Those who work the Field Trips would remain employees of the Alpine School District - yes, a person could work for both.  

Questions were asked about the cost and length of the lease. This committee agreed to look at Casey's proposal in more detail, asking that he meet with the district's business office to iron out the lease details.

Protecting the Space Center brand is one benefit I see in creating the Space Center Foundation.   Program quality, educational value, and the proper combination of education and entertainment made the Space Center what it is today.  The Foundation would ensure those standards are maintained by any organization calling itself a member of the Space Center family.

The non profit Space Center Foundation will be formally organized in January.  Fund raising for new simulators, and the purchase of a portable planetarium for our outreach programs will begin after the Foundation is formed.  I'm shooting for $1,000,000,000,000 dollars. Is that too much to ask?  Remember, changing the world will be very expensive ;)

A Quote from Carl Sagan

“Long ago, when an early galaxy began to pour light out into the surrounding darkness, no witness could have known that billions of years later some remote clumps of rock and metal, ice and organic molecules would fall together to make place called Earth; or that life would arise and thinking beings evolve who would one day capture a little of that galactic light, and try to puzzle out what had sent it on its way. And after the earth dies, some 5 billion years from now, after it's burned to a crisp, or even swallowed by the Sun, there will be other worlds and stars and galaxies coming into being -- and they will know nothing of a place once called Earth.” -Carl Sagan

And Now, Your Comments and Questions

Cambry Wrote:

Hi, this is Cambry.  I had a few questions about what's been happening. 

1. So... what are the details about Overnight Camps? I'm a little confused. Are we still going to have them ever? 
We won't be hosting Overnight Camps at the current Space Center at Central School.  We lost the sleeping quarters in the Voyager.  The new Space Center building may offer overnight camps.  It is up to the school district to make that decision.  

2. We're still having 5 hour missions, right?
We hope to start those again for Saturdays and summer Day Camps. 

3. What will the Volunteering options be like? If any. 
The volunteer program should stay intact just like it was.

4. Are any ships re-opening? I've heard that the Phoenix, Galileo, and Magellan are. And the Voyager and Odyssey are being torn down? 
You are correct.

5. If any ships are re-opening, when will they be?   January or February

6. What are the details about the new building? Will it still have dungeons for the misbehaved Staff and Volunteers? 
Well, I wish the old Space Center had dungeons, sadly it didn't.  I could use a dungeon for my misbehaving students.  

7. So, are we replacing the phaser system with later tag? That's what I understand, at least. 
No.

Thank you so much! You guys are AWESOME. I will try to support you all in any way I'm able! 

Big supporter and definite fan, 

         Cambry

Julie Wrote:

I like your plan Mr. Williamson. I really like how each side has kind of a connecting staff area. My mind is going crazy with ideas of how to join the ships somehow to make the grand joint mission we've all dreamed of.

I do have a question with this ideal plan though. In an ideal world I think we are all thinking there would be overnight camps, and I'm wondering if you would like to incorporate showers into the plan at all, rather than using the community pool as an excuse to cut down on the stink?

If overnight camps are to be included in a new building, then showers would be a must.  Remember, If it can be done at Clear Creek, then it should be doable at the Space Center. 

 Matt wrote:

With regards to what Alex said about not being able to afford a basement for the proposed new building. I think it would be a huge mistake to not include a basement, even if it was an unfinished basements. The basement need only to be a foundation with supports for the 1st floor. Then, as time goes on and the space center earns money, we would be able to finish the basement, putting in space for storage, away missions etc. This would allow for a cheap(er) expansion to the space center as it grows. Otherwise, the only way to make the building bigger would be by building out or up, both of which would be very expensive. 

We could also do this for an elevator. Leave space in a section of the building where we could later install an elevator (as was done in the Salt Lake temple). We need to think about the future of the space center, even if our current budget will be limited.

I agree

Anonymous wrote:

Couldn't a basement use a ramp? You could have storage space underneath it.
I think a basement is one of the best investments that can be made at this point; it'll allow for future growth, without needing to build upper floors. Even if it were to be a bare basement with few lights, it could serve as a 'bunker' type of area for away missions.
I like the 'Ideal' plan, but it seems to use a bit too much space for me to be comfortable with it, but since a 'slimmed down' concept is coming, I'll wait to pass judgement.
I've been going through my math and physics textbooks and finding concepts that would be easy to teach at the Space Center. It really wouldn't be that hard to mix in some science and math into missions. 

Great suggestions and ideas.

Anonymous wrote:

Something I just thought of: a situation table somewhere. It'd be nice if the crew had somewhere to lay papers out to compare notes and work out problems, kind of like the navigation table on submarines. On the current simulators, there's a problem that people who have to work out problems on paper (like decoders) don't have a whole lot of space to work.
The table would also be helpful for science experiments, etc

I like your thinking 

An Interesting Article to Ponder Over.  Are We Simulations within a Great Simulation? 

Could you be a simulation, within a simulation, within a simulation? You'll never look at the world the same after contemplating this theory. I'll spend the next few days looking for glitches in the matrix. Perhaps that's the way it works. The simulation runs until those in it reach up and touch the sky.  Read More

A Video on the End of the World and the Myan Calender.

 

 The Imaginarium

 Everybody has their 'White Crayon' times in life.

This is good advice for me.  I've been so busy running the Space Center over the

last 22 years that I almost forgot what it is like to try something new for the first time.

A desktop Christmas Tree for the Nerd in You :)

Be careful.  

Be nice to yourself and to others.

Lyrics to one of my favorite songs.

Be true to yourself.

I followed this advice on Friday after hearing the tragic news about the school shooting.

Talk is just talk.  Your Actions shout out who you are.

And you will until your time is up.  Cherish the moments.

And when its time to go into that good night, do so without regrets.

Not many of you younger readers will know this song.

Great song.  Great lyrics.

Just ask Mr. Scrooge how all that wealth worked out for him.

I love music.

It is the heartbeat of life.

Such difficult choices along the road of make believe.  

For me, straight on is not a choice.

This is going up in my classroom.

A different kind of light.

Creativity: A

Mona, forgot to practice moderation in all things

You only have two hands and one brain.  You can't hold onto everything forever.

Let it go.

Creativity: A

Imagination: A

Creativity: A

"IT" is loose.

 There is no doubt this guy loves the Holiday season.

Making technology easier for our grandparents.

 

Little Kim Launched a Rocket.