THIS MONTH: Program updates - AE Safety Check - Member Story - Curriculum - Important things to know

CAP’s signature early education STEM program, the Aerospace Connections in Education (ACE) program, is celebrating this year’s achievement of reaching almost 98,000 students across the nation. As the number of ACE students exceeded expectations, so did the performance of the national ACE award recipients, which we celebrate, as well!

• Read about the outstanding 2023 awardees in the CAP.News article, ACE Awards Go to Top School, Teachers, Student, Partnership

• Originally created as a feeder program for CAP’s cadet program, the ACE program includes the associated ACE Plus program where CAP squadrons adopt ACE classrooms to provide mentorship and introduction to the cadet program. One national ACE award recognizes a squadron and school partnership where young ACE students have become CAP cadets. 

• How are ACE awards selected? Read about this and the great appreciation to the Air & Space Forces Association for the ACE award grants, HERE.

Thanks to all of the teachers who brought the ACE program to their students this year.



• Registration for the 2023-2024 school year will begin August 1! 

Pictured: Proud ACE students at the national ACE school of the year, Goldsboro Elementary Magnet School, in Sanford, Florida

CAP teacher members, summer is a great time to request YOUR annual Teacher Orientation Program (TOP) flight in a CAP airplane at your closest airport.

How? Contact YOUR state’s Director of Aerospace Education (DAE) and request your flight. Give your CAP ID#, your city/state, and the names of any other CAP AE members who wish to fly with you.

What happens next? The DAE will connect you with the Operations team in your state to locate a plane and pilot to coordinate the best time to take your flight.

On flight day? Your pilot will give you a great flight and allow you to fly the plane! The pilot will sign your TOP flight certificate, as well!

After the flight? Complete the TOP flight online evaluation form and send a good photo of your flight to ae@capnhq.gov. We may share YOUR flight on social media like these two teachers!

 Find out more at the link below.

Funding for CAP Unit Grants has been generously restored by CAP partner in aerospace/STEM education, the Air & Space Forces Association (AFA). 

Note the new AFA name and logo which embraces both USAF Airmen and U.S. Space Force Guardians.

CAP AE officers can now submit applications for a $250 grant to promote AE and STEM within their cadet or composite units. If the squadron desires to also share their project with youth outside the squadron, that is a plus!

Grants can fund aerospace field trips, STEM outreach events, or equipment/materials for special STEM projects.

Applications are due by midnight (applicant’s time zone) June 30. The application is found HERE. The grant competition will result in STEM projects being funded for competitively-selected units. All applicants will be notified by the end of July whether or not the project was selected to be funded. 

All details are found at the link below.

FEATURED KIT -- ASTRONOMY: For beginning astronomers to experienced stargazers, these lightweight, portable Celestron FirstScope telescopes in the Astronomy STEM Kit will work well with cadets and/or students. Added to the durable telescopes will be astronomy lessons and accessories to adjust magnitude and vision. There is an Astronomy Activity Booklet that includes career option information available in the AE Downloads and Resources section of CAP's member portal, eServices.

The Astronomy STEM Kit is recommended for ages 6 and older.

If you have a safety topic you would like to be included in this space, please email kcooper@ner.cap.gov.

In honor of the Aerospace Connections in Education (ACE) awards being announced, this month's spotlighted lesson plan is from the ACE program guide for 5th-graders. The Fizzy Rocket lesson demonstrates rocketry and Newton's laws of motion. Cadets and students will create a rocket powered by a bubbling effervescent tablet. The lesson is found in the 5th Grade ACE Instructors Guide as Academic Lesson #5. Or find it here.

Thanks again, ACE teachers, for a great, record-breaking year!

Meet. Lt. Col. Gary A. Dahlke, Assistant Director of Aerospace Education for Florida Wing. Col. Dahlke joined Civil Air Patrol in 2002 after having been asked to give a guest presentation to CAP cadets at Patrick Air Force Base. He has been involved with that same National Cadet Special Activity (now called Space Operations Academy at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida), for nearly 20 years, having served as director for several years during that time. He has been interested in aerospace since he was a young boy. "I distinctly remember CBS live news reports of the Gemini IV space mission and continued to follow developments in spaceflight from that point on," he says. That interest led to a lifelong career in aerospace including work on the NASA Space Shuttle solid rocket booster program. "Thinking back to the summer of 1965, I could have never imagined a career that was so deeply involved in such amazing technology," he says. If you've participated in CAP's popular Model Rocketry Program, you have referenced his work. Col. Dahlke has written and edited CAP's Model Rocketry and Advanced Model Rocketry modules. He also has written and edited several chapters in CAP's textbook Aerospace: The Journey of Flight and Aerospace Dimensions Modules 4, 5 and 6. In 2015, he was presented with the prestigious NASA Inspire Award for his work sharing the story of space exploration with student and community groups throughout the Southeast. He was recently presented with the Certificate of Volunteer Excellence for service to the USAF community, having volunteered for more than 30 years and logging hundreds of hours each year, some of which was in his capacity as a Civil Air Patrol member. In addition to directing cadets during the NCSA at Florida's Space Coast, Col. Dahlke also has served on the staff of the National Aerospace Education Officers School, currently held in Cocoa Beach, arranging field trips at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral and serving as the tour guide on those trips. He knows that the aerospace field is a big draw for youth and cadets as well as adults, but he sees it as much more. "The 'coolness' factor is what often attracts youth interest," he says, "but beyond that, I see it as a worthwhile effort." Click the link below to read the full story.

Pictured: Lt. Col. Gary Dahlke meeting astronaut Neil Armstrong.

"Time and again I see cadets get bitten by the 'space bug' when they have related that they know exactly what they want to do for a career as a result of their participation (in the NCSA space-focused academy)."

-- Lt. Col. Gary A. Dahlke, Assistant DAE

Florida Wing

Each month, this space features important highlights or answers to frequently asked questions. Here are three things you need to know as an AEM or AEO.

All Aerospace Education Members (AEMs) are offered an annual FREE “in-kind renewal." The online renewal email is sent 60 days prior to the membership expiration date. A renewal banner appears at the top of the eServices sign-in page 90 days prior to expiring. (You can’t renew earlier than 90 days.) Find additional information at the link below.

AEOs, this is the perfect time to reach out to your AEMs whose memberships expire within 60 days or whose memberships have expired. For more guidance, see Recruiting and Retention of AEMs on the AEO Resources page link below.

Please note: CAP has several categories of membership, but each member can only be assigned one category of membership. Any adult uniformed member, who is an educator, may access all the resources available to an AEM. 

Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Education

Contact: Aerospace Education

https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/ae