This month we celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. As a resource for AEOs and AEMs in squadrons and classrooms, we have an Asian American Pacific Islander Lessons page on our website that highlights accomplishments of Asian Pacific Americans in aerospace/STEM fields and provides links to educational materials on the subject.
May is also National Teacher Appreciation Month. See our teacher appreciation video here. Thank you, educators!
As the school year winds down, we know it has been a year unlike any other -- with remote lessons, distancing and hybrid teaching. Through it all, we have seen our AEOs and AEMs and the youth they lead continue to thrive. In the Aerospace Connections in Education (ACE) program, we salute outstanding work with the National ACE Awards. The winners are announced in this newsletter.
Congratulations also go to Oregon Wing's Aurora Composite Squadron's cadet team for winning the Air Force Association's StellarXplorer 2021 national STEM high school competition, marking a first for Civil Air Patrol.
Our member stories this month highlight members from New Hampshire and Florida Wings. If you know of other inspiring member stories, we hope you will reach out to us at ae@capnhq.gov.
THIS MONTH: Member stories - Program updates in ACE, TOP Flights and StellarXplorers - Events - AE Safety Check - Curriculum - Important things to know
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PROGRAM UPDATES
2021 National ACE Awards announced
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The 2020-2021 Aerospace Connections in Education (ACE) program’s national awardees have been selected! See awardees list HERE. Congratulations to all winners!
- The National HQ AE team will be contacting the closest CAP squadrons and AFA chapters to notify them about the winners so they can congratulate them, and even try to plan a time to make the award plaque and check presentations to them, either virtually or in person.
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As this school year comes to an end, all ACE teachers should remember to do the online completion forms HERE, even if all desired ACE lessons were not completed.
- ACE certificates will be mailed to you after the completion form is received.
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The template to insert students’ names on the certificates is found in the right column on the ACE Teachers page.
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If you need assistance in locating the closest CAP squadron or AFA chapter to assist with your ACE certificate presentations, let us know at ace@capnhq.gov.
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If any other ACE teachers want to be adopted next year, please let us know at adopt@capnhq.gov.
(Pictured, ACE students from the 2021 National ACE School of the Year, Creekside Elementary School in Livingston, Texas)
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AFA STEM PROGRAMS
CAP Takes Top Spot in AFA STEM Program
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HOT NEWS! CAP squadron teams are now able to register for both the AFA’s CyberPatriot program AND the StellarXplorers program AT NO COST to any CAP squadron team. Title I school teams can also register at no cost for both programs.
- REGISTRATION for both programs is open NOW. See both websites for registration and contact information.
In the photo, the CAP Aurora Team is featured as proud national award-winning cadets.
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TOP FLIGHTS
CAP's Teacher Orientation Program (TOP)
flights are funded and ready for take-off
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Any CAP member who is a teacher can request a Teacher Orientation Program (TOP) flight from their state’s Wing Director of Aerospace Education (see list HERE). If COVID restrictions will allow the wing to fly orientation flights now, teachers’ flights can be coordinated and flown. If the wing is not in the safe COVID phase yet, TOP flights can be requested and scheduled as soon as the wing is cleared to fly. (As their wing’s TOP Flight PoC, Wing DAEs should coordinate flights with their Wing DO or designee.)
Teachers have the opportunity to be taken “out of the classroom and into the sky” with CAP airplanes and pilots. They can fly over their geographical area, even their school, while learning how all aspects of STEM connect with aviation principles and actions. Taking videos and photos of the flight and sharing with students is quite an exciting opportunity!
In the photo, Alabama Wing pilot, Capt. Doug Henderson, gives a pre-flight aviation lesson to CAP AE members from Alabama’s Sparkman Middle School, Kala Jo Grice-Dobbins, STEM teacher, and Dr. Amanda Lemons, assistant principal. See their TOP flight “COVID-style in Alabama” video HERE!
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2021 NATIONAL AEROSPACE EDUCATION OFFICER SCHOOL
The 18th annual National AEO School will be conducted June 4 and 5. This year, for the first time, it will be a virtual AEO School. Over 400 have registered, and registration is closed; however, the school will be recorded and available online after it has concluded.
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(Welcome to AE Safety Check! These safety nuggets are things to think about as you lead or participate in an Aerospace Education activity. The writer of this monthly feature is Lt. Col. Karen Cooper, who works in safety and risk management on the AE National Headquarters Staff and is also the Northeast Region Assistant DCS/Aerospace Education.)
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A GOOD PHRASE TO KEEP IN MIND
Can’t Hurt - Might Help -- a good phrase to keep in mind when you are planning and running an AE Activity. When you are in the planning phase, I’m positive that you make sure that you have all of the materials needed, but you should also take a good look at what else you might need. Is there any Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that you should use to make the activity safer? Think about goggles, work gloves, barriers to stand behind, or anything else that would raise the level of safety as you do this. Like last month, I am talking about safer, and not unsafe. If using the PPE might help – then it can’t hurt to add it to the activity. Always wear the proper PPE for the work at hand.
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If you have a safety topic you would like to be included in this space, please email kcooper@ner.cap.gov.
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AEO STORY
New Hampshire Wing AEO, also a K-8 teacher, mentors cadets, students in aerospace education
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Meet Capt. Julie Sicks-Panus. She is the Aerospace Education Officer for Hawk Composite Squadron in Laconia, New Hampshire (NER-NH-056). Capt. Sicks-Panus, who is also an assistant Director of Aerospace Education (DAE) for the New Hampshire Wing, joined CAP six years ago about a year after her son joined CAP as a cadet. In addition to her CAP career, she also is a veteran elementary school teacher. She has been the K-8 STEM teacher/specialist for Plymouth Elementary School for the past 23 years. She is a member of the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) and has been recognized by that group as a "Leader to Watch." Whether it be working with cadets or working with her younger elementary students, she enjoys mentoring in AE/STEM. "AE is fun and engaging for all ages," she says. "It gives an exciting basis to teach scientific principles and explore engineering practices." Her teaching aerospace engineering lessons has had an impact not only on her students, but also on Capt. Panus-Sicks. It inspired her to begin flying lessons. Click below to read the full story. |
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"I truly love when students or cadets whom I have helped get started follow a passion on a topic, pass me by and can turn around and teach me new things. Also, a former student and CAP cadet is now in Pensacola learning to fly jets for the Navy!"
-- Capt. Julie Sicks-Panus, New Hampshire Wing
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AEM STORY
Florida teacher helps students explore STEM fields
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Meet Johnetta Harris. This Florida Aerospace Education Member (AEM) is the middle school STEM teacher at Palm Valley Academy in St. Augustine, Florida. She is in her second year of teaching after a career working in research and training of animals. While focusing on conservation work in zoos, she helped create lesson plans. "It was then that I fell in love with educating," she says. "I worked in a few zoos and nature centers, educating the public, before finally deciding to step into the classroom." This year, she participated in CAP AE's new Adopt-a-Classroom program, in which cadets and senior members connect with classrooms in their communities. Her students, in turn, connected to the speakers, she says. She also likes the benefits her students get from CAP's Aerospace Connections in Education (ACE) and STEM Kit programs. She teaches in the aerospace/STEM education field because she is "passionate about science/STEM" and hopes to inspire her students to explore those fields and develop a passion of their own. Click the link below to read her full story.
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"Yes, I would recommend other teachers to have cadets and senior members come into the classroom. That inspired my students to want to pursue careers in aerospace and join the cadet program. It was so much more engaging, and the students connected to the speakers."
-- Johnetta Harris, Florida AEM
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CURRICULUM
Celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month
May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. For reference this month and all year long, see the webpage dedicated to resources and links highlighting Asian American Pacific Islander contributions in aerospace and STEM in the link below. One such resource is from CAP's Women in Aviation, Volume I module. In the Katherine Cheung lesson, students learn the history of the first Asian American woman to be a U.S. pilot. They will also build a model of the plane she flew during air shows. Click below for the lesson.
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In this lesson, students will learn the impact of space technology on their lives because of inventions that originated from space programs and research. When aerospace technology is adapted for commercial use, it is called technology transfer (spinoffs). Students will predict which items are NASA spinoffs and learn the correct answers to their predictions. The "NASA Spinoffs" lesson is found in the Grade 4 Aerospace Connections in Education (ACE) Guide. It is Academic Lesson #8. See a video of the lesson by clicking the Aerospace at Your Pace logo or the link below.
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Each month, this space features important highlights or answers to frequently asked questions. Here are three things you need to know now as an AEM or AEO.
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You can update your eServices profile information. Here's how: |
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Sign into eServices and click on your name in the top right hand corner. Update your email address, mailing address, contact numbers, etc. This ensures you receive timely and pertinent information from CAP. If you are a teacher, ensure your primary email address is your home and your secondary email address is your school so that your annual renewal email and any other important information will not end up as spam in your school email account.
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AEMs: Is it time to renew your membership? |
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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. Thinking that due to the pandemic you cannot participate in CAP’s AE programs? That may be partly true, but when we get back to “normal,” you will wish you kept your membership current, so do not let it expire!
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AEOs: Reach out to AEMs whose memberships expire soon |
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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. And, we wish to encourage our AEMs to “hang on” until the end of the pandemic and continue renewing their membership. Once things are back to “normal,” they will be glad they did!
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Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Education
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