Source: Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.文件倉Jan. 05--A hallway lined with stars leads down to a series of empty rooms that were once filled with children discovering a love of math and science. A flight simulator sits unused, and a miniature version of the surface of Mars is no longer crawling with student-made robots.But all of that's about to change."What happened here could have been one of two stories," said Ann Sikes, executive director of the Montgomery Education Foundation. "It could have been something great and shiny that went away. Close the doors and lock it up."The other story was written because Montgomery is this kind of community, coming together and saying we're not OK with doing this."The Starbase program at Maxwell Air Force Base is one of many across the nation that lost Department of Defense funding during the federal budget crisis. But unlike some others, this one is coming back thanks to a $250,000 state grant and the intervention of local educators.Left adriftSchool and class names still hang on the walls as a tribute to the fifth-graders who have traveled to Starbase over the last nine years. Each class spent a week finding out about things like nanotechnology and mapping, and exploring engineering through activities such as designing a space station."They probably don't know they're learning," said Cindy Cochran, who organizes the trips for Elmore County schools. "I was amazed at the math and science standards that are taught through the program."But not everyone can go. Starbase took a percentage of each county's fifth-graders each year, on a rotation, because of lack of space and resources. That was the case even in 2010, when 34 classes visited throughout the year from schools across all three counties."And then we hit all the budget problems," said Christine Prewitt, 42nd Air Base Wing Mission Support Group Deputy. "We put it together for a little bit (of DoD funding)."Three instructors and an administrator handled the program, with many of them picking up several duties. By 2010, only 10 classes were able to come to Starbase.Then the latest cuts came down."When we were told to shut it down, we didn't want to," Prewitt said. "So we mothballed it and tried to work on a way to keep it viable."Finding the futureSikes only learned about Starbase a few months ago, when her non-profit group was asked to step in and take over administration of the program."It was not a hard decision other than the fast turnaround," she said. "On Jan. 7 we're going to have students back in those classrooms, and we're pretty proud of that."Without what the governor's doing, you wouldn't have gotten to step two."Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley plan存倉 to visit the program next month, and he'll watch as the children there learn some of the most in-demand skills in the state. The surge in manufacturing jobs here over the past decade has led to a need for more engineers and STEM training, but fewer Alabamians are studying to enter those fields.A workforce development task force created by Bentley has suggested finding ways to interest children in science and math at an earlier age, the way Starbase does. A separate workforce development group led by Elmore County Schools Superintendent Jeff Langham came up with some of the same answers this year. But Langham was sold on Starbase before that."It really just plays in to all of the directions that we're trying to move into here in the county -- project-based learning, critical thinking and group involvement," Langham said. "We have a lot of things that bombard us in a school system, but we have clearly seen that we're getting a great return on investment in sending our kids there."Airbus Americas Chairman Allan McArtor has a vested interest in the next generation of workers in Alabama as his company builds a $600 million assembly plant in Mobile. He toured the Starbase program at Maxwell in November and praised the approach as a great way to win over kids' imaginations early in life."If they think it's neat, they'll pay attention to it," McArtor said. "If they pay attention to it, they'll learn. When they start to learn, they'll take that next (STEM) class. The next thing you know they're in Georgia Tech or somewhere and they want to be an engineer."But you've got to capture them at that age."Sky's the limitThe program now has a permanent home under the foundation, and if DoD funding is reinstated the money would be contracted to Sikes' organization.She has her own dreams for the program, starting with doubling the number of students by next year, which would open the doors to many more local schools. She also wants to start a summer program and a STEM institute for teachers."If we seed a teacher, we're seeding hundreds of children," Sikes said. "I think we're really just touching the tip of the iceberg for what Starbase can do."Her foundation sees a chance to work with businesses such as Airbus or Lockheed for many of the reasons that McArtor mentioned. And through those partnerships, Sikes believes it can remain open and keep reaching new heights."All we hear so often is that people don't care," she said. "This was a great example that we do."Copyright: ___ (c)2014 the Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Ala.) Visit the Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Ala.) at .montgomeryadvertiser.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存
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