A Starship Simulator in a School Bus? It's True! Welcome to the IKS Horizon. The Fleet of Starship Simulators Grows. The Imaginarium.

Hello Troubadours!
The mystery surrounding the location of the new IKS Horizon simulator has been solved. Welcome Horizon to the family of simulators inspired by the great ship Voyager - the mother ship. Congratulations to Gary Gardiner and all our friends at Dream Flight Adventures. Congratulations to our new friends at Explore! Children’s Museum of Washington DC. The IKS Horizon is beautiful and MOBILE.  Now this unique form of experiential education can go places no ship has gone before.  

Mr. Williamson  

IKS Horizon Sighted

Posted on August 8, 2015 by Admiral Starblayze

Hello troops,

Way back in April we leaked a few photos of the IKS Horizon, one of our newest simulators, which had been under construction in a top secret hangar.  Only highly trained operatives with top-tier security clearance were allowed to enter the premises, and even then they had to undergo thorough memory wipes after viewing the classified material.

But fear not—the secrecy has now ended and the IKS Horizon has been seen flying in our skies in broad daylight!

It doesn’t take long to realize that there’s something different about the Horizon.  It’s unlike any simulator we’ve ever built—it’s mobile!  The IKS Horizon is built inside a retrofitted school bus!

The IKS Horizon was built for the brand new Explore! Children’s Museum of Washington DC and was designed in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution.  Dubbed the “Explore! Mission Mobile,” the IKS Horizon serves schools, camps, and youth groups throughout the greater DC area.

Here we see the Explore! Mission Mobile parked on the National Mall.

Stay tuned for more updates, and be sure to check out the IKS Horizon the next time you’re in Washington DC!  

The Imaginarium

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My Orders to Report For Duty. A New Voyager Story? The Imaginarium.

Hello Troubadours!
Still hiding away at my Arizona retreat.  I'll be back in Utah on Monday and have orders to report to work on Tuesday.  Teachers are being called in earlier and earlier.  We had to report for duty on August 17 a couple years ago; now it's the 11th. If this trend continues, they'll soon be ordering us to battle stations at the end of July!  
These early teacher days are usually the same thing every year - new teaching techniques, results of state tests, new curriculum dictated by the state office to add to the bloated curriculum we can't possibly get through in nine months. Nobody up the command structure understands that everything added to the curriculum means something already in the curriculum must be ignored or quickly brushed over with fingers crossed it doesn't appear on the state test. There are only 180 days of school. 
The latest educational trend is individualized curriculum. Teachers are asked to adjust their teaching style and curriculum to meet the needs of individual students.  In a class of 26, you'll generally find four or five learning styles and a similar number of ability levels. I teach several subjects a day. That's a lot of daily preparation if I individualized everything.  
Most teachers realize it isn't possible. My philosophy is to individualize when I can, and when I can't - prepare good attention grabbing lessons, teach to the middle level, and adjust the assignment as necessary to meet different learning styles.  
Teaching isn't for wimps.

Great Stuff Here!

I finished this book today.  880 pages vividly describing the naval battles between Britain and Germany in World War I with ideas for new Voyager missions in every chapter.  The Battle of Jutland would be particularly interesting and challenging.  Hmmmmm, time to outline a new mission in the new Voyager.

Mr. W. 



The Imaginarium