A Busy Saturday at Farpoint: Thorium Starship Controls Demonstration. Advanced Medical Training for the Cadets. The Young Coders Earn their Keep. Meet the Young Astronauts. The Imaginarium.

The Space EdVenturing Big Wigs PowWow on the Bridge of the Voyage with Alex and Crystal Anderson.
Left to right: Matt Ricks, Casey Voeks, Jon Parker, James Porter, Isaac Ostler,  InfiniD's Lead Programmer, and the Andersons.

Thorium Starship Controls Demonstration  

It was another busy Saturday at Renaissance Academy's Farpoint Space Education Center.  Alex and Crystal Anderson demonstrated the power of the new Thorium Starship Controls to representatives of the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center, Farpoint, and InfiniD.  Read all about this revolutionary starship simulation bridge control system and see screenshots of the controls by visiting this blog page.  

Impressed isn't a strong enough word to describe the reaction from the group.  Everyone left the meeting with a clear understanding of what Thorium is and what it can do to simplify flight directing while at the same time delivering a rich, rewarding experience for the crew.  Thorium is open sourced. It will run on any platform and any number of computers;  Galileo? no problem.  Voyager? no problem.  Magellan? no problem.  

    

The time Alex spent as a volunteer and flight director at the CMSEC changed his life, which is why Alex is committed to developing Thorium for the masses.  

Farpoint's Young Astronaut / Voyager Coders

Farpoint's Young Coders Club meets Saturdays from 8:00 - 9:30 A.M.  With two classes to go, we're nearing the end of our current GoogleCS unit.  I let the young coders vote on which CS unit they wanted to do next.  Video game design was by far the favorite so video game design it will be. The eight-week course starts in January.    

Farpoint's Young Coder's Club

Advanced First Aid for Farpoint's Voyager Cadets

Isaac Ostler taught an advanced first aid and CPR workshop Saturday morning.  The class is offered as part of Farpoint's officer training program.  Young Astronauts and Voyagers take the class as part of their rank advancement training.   

Meet Farpoint's Young Astronaut Squadrons. Today, the 5th Grade Lions and the 4th Grade Tigers 

On Thursday the 5th Grade Lion Squadron launched on their first of seven missions for the school year aboard the USS Voyager.  The two and one half hour meeting included a mission briefing and launch. They too are faced with dealing with the evil Chancellor Alexander and his much-feared National Front.  

The Lion's sent this picture of themselves to Chancellor Alexander telling him that he has no idea who he is dealing with

The 4th Grade Tiger Squadron

 Then there's the 4th Grade Tiger Squadron.  You really don't want to mess with them. They come into this year's Young Astronaut Long Duration Mission with a year's experience dealing with the misguided Pennou slave hunter. 

Dealing with bullies is no problem for them.  "That Chancellor needs to go!" is how the captain summed up their mission.  Watch out you bullies on New Earth. The Tigers are coming for you!

Mr. Williamson

The Imaginarium

Free CPR and Emergency First Aid Class for All Volunteers and Staff of All Space Centers This Saturday at Farpoint (Renaissance Academy).

Dear Employees and Volunteers of all the Space Centers,

As a seasoned volunteer, you know this mission like the back of your hand.  In 15 minutes there will be a bomb, and waiting in the briefing room would be a band of thugs who will wipe the helpless security officers out as soon as they walk in the room.  Watching the cameras, you notice the captain start to stumble around and grab the table.  "Is this part of the simulation?  Did the bridge supervisor call them down?  What's going on?  Why are they clenching their chest?"  you think to yourself.  Suddenly they collapse to the floor.  All you can think is "Wait, what's happening?  Is he okay?"  The flight director and supervisor both look at each other confused.  Suddenly the bridge officer runs into the control room and swings open the door, "CALL 911!  HE'S HAVING A HEART ATTACK!"

Would you know what to do in this situation?

Heart attacks are life-threatening, and what happens in the first few minutes can determine if this person lives or dies.  Knowing what to do in this situation is critical.  That's why the directors of the Farpoint, Telos, and Christa Mcauliffe Space Education Centers have decided to hold a joint training session on emergency first aid and CPR.  This course will not certify you in CPR or emergency first aid (simply because none of us are certified instructors), however, you will be taught the latest protocols and procedures.  Some of the topics we will be covering include

How and when to perform CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resection), as well as how to operate an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator),

Choking and airway emergencies,

Bleeding control,

Allergic Reactions and other medical emergencies

Date: This Saturday (December 9th, 2017)

Time: 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM

Where: Farpoint Space Education Center.  Renaissance Academy, 3435 N.  1120 E.  Lehi, Utah.

Who: All are invited!  Staff, volunteers, campers, your best friend, your dog, etc

Cost: FREE

Why: There is a very good chance that you WILL have to use these skills some time in your life.  Prepare now for when it happens.

Will this give me my CPR certification:  No, you must attend a CPR course taught by a licensed instructor to obtain your certification

Will I learn the correct way to use these skills:  Yes, the information taught will be the same protocols used by healthcare professionals

What if I already know this stuff: It's highly recommended you still attend.  Protocols change often, it's wise to keep up-to-date on them by training regularly.

Please email me if you have any questions!  (isaac@spaceCampUtah.org)

Thanks!  Hope to see you there!

Introducing the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center's Advisory Board. A First of its Kind - The Voyager's Tactical Command Station. Utah's Coolest Space Themed Christmas Classroom Door. Meet More Young Astronauts From Renaissance Academy. Theater Imaginarium.

Alpine School District's Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center Introduces the New Advisory Board at the Foundational Meeting: Present: LtoR. Casey Voeks, Heather Groom, Ryan Wells, James Porter,
Emily Paxman, and Victor Williamson (taking the picture). November 30, 2017.

Introducing the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center's Advisory Board

Several years ago Viki Carter and I met in her office at Central Elementary School to discuss the creation of a CMSEC Advisory Board.  At the time I was serving on Clark Planetarium's Advisory Board and grew to understand its purpose. An advisory board is not a governing body as you would find on a school board or a board of directors. An advisory board gives a public organization an effective way to receive community input to facilitate the organization's value in the community.
The idea of an advisory board was shelved during the transitional time after my retirement.

Earlier in November James Porter contacted me asking if I'd like to serve on the CMSEC's soon to form advisory board. With his new master's degree in hand and the Space Center moving at full steam, he felt it was time to emulate the school district's community councils by creating one for the Space Center itself. It would be "All Hands on Deck" as the CMSEC prepared for the construction of a new Central Elementary and Space Center in 2019.

In the email welcoming new board members, Mr. Porter wrote, "You’ve been invited to participate in helping to develop our amazing program as it continues to extend the reach of this inspiring educational endeavor."

In the board's founding charter, Mr. Porter outlined the board's purpose:

Board Members

The Space Center Advisory Board is composed of community members nominated by mutual consent of the CMSEC Director and existing Board, and are appointed for two- year terms. Membership includes individuals who can offer specialist advice, skills, and resources to accomplish Board goals.

Purpose:

• To provide a forum for the collection and expression of opinions and recommendations on matters relating to Space Center pursuits.  A sounding board of professionals and content experts.
• Serve as an external advocate of the Space Center and promote communication among the general public, businesses, and government agencies to increase awareness.
• Engage community members, businesses, and other organizations with outreach efforts to connect students with skilled professionals and additional educational opportunities.
• To assit in the identification and solicitation of financial and other 
resources.

The CMSEC Advisory Board's founding members are:

• Ryan Wells - Central Elementary Principal
• Vicki Carter - ASD Administration Representative
• Victor Williamson - CMSEC Founder. Farpoint Space Education Center Director.
• Mark Clement - BYU Professor & ASD Board Member
• Emily Paxman - Director of Research & Analysis at KLAS Research
• Heather Groom - Deputy Campaign Manager: Governor Gary Herbert & Former member of the State Board of Education
• Casey Voeks - CEO of InfiniD Learning.
• Ryan Anderson - Executive Director of Telos Discovery Space Center.

     The first board meeting was held on Thursday, November 30, 2017, in the CMSEC's Discovery Room.  A summary of the meeting:

• Feasting on subway sandwiches, chips, etc. You can't call a meeting at 6:30 P.M.        without providing something to aid in the imagineering process. 
• Introductions. 
• An overview of the board's purpose and objectives.
• A discussion of goals with the primary purpose of raising funds towards the new Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center.
• A discussion regarding research into the educational benefit of simulator based experiential education. 
• A summary of the discussion with assignments for the next meeting.
• A decision not to elect a board chairman. The board asked James Porter to lead the board in his capacity as CMSEC Director.      

A First of its Kind in a Space EdVentures Simulator. The Tactical Command Station

Alex Debirk is a gentleman, scholar, flight director, teacher, husband, father, and all around generous man.  He purchased and donated the TV used in the Voyager's new tactical command station.  He and his father also sponsored the Voyager's engineering room (built it too). 

     Amazing, isn't it?  You're looking at the first Tactical Command Station ever installed in a Space EdVentures simulator. Alex DeBirk is the man responsible. He's the guy with the beard in the photo above. Alex is an assistant director at the Farpoint Space Education Center at Renaissance Academy and teacher and Voyager Club director at American Heritage Academy in American Fork.  Alex designed Farpoint's Voyager simulator, and with his father's help, build the engineering console in the Voyager's Engineering Room.

Knowing funds to operate the Voyager are limited, Alex generously donated the TV for the command tactical station.  Come and do a mission in the Voyager. Go to 
SpaceCampUtah.org to book a flight. A Voyager mission would make a great holiday party.   

Who Has Utah's Coolest Space Themed Christmas Classroom Door?

The answer to that question is Mr. Williamson of course.  Today I'm proud to show off my new Christmas classroom door compliments of Mary O'Hara, mother of Sean O'Hara, one of my gifted young math students.  Mrs O'Hara is an artist and self - proclaimed Master of Science Fiction.  Mary O'Hara adopts one classroom per year as the repository of her original artwork.  I was the lucky one this year. 

The Crowds waiting to see my Mary O'Hara Halloween Classroom Door.

Tickets to stand and view are $1.00. To be considerate of those waiting, please limit your time to no more than 30 seconds.    

Meet More of the Few, the Brave, the Proud Young Astronauts of Renaissance Academy

Two more of Renaissance Academy's 26 Young Astronaut and Voyager Squadrons launched this week for their first mission to evacuate the Federation embassy on New Earth and bring the evil Chancellor Alexander to justice for his crimes against humanity.  All of Farpoint's squadrons are well trained and duty bound to complete their seven month long mission.
 

Yes, they are determined to defeat the evil Chancellor Alexander. Meet the mighty 4th Grade Scorpion Squadron.

Meet the fifth grade Tiger Squadron - a force not to be taken lightly

Theater Imaginarium