1. Museum Visits and Support
At the time of The American Legion State Conventions, the Aerospace Commission usually visits a nearby aerospace museum or a military aviation unit. These field trips are not only educational, they build camaraderie within the Legion. A number of Legion posts do much the same thing, with an added benefit going to the host institutions.
  
| Larry Leonardo and Dennis Matarrese presenting a check to the WAM |
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Posts in Area Two have taken the lead in museum support, creating a special room in a local museum. The Western Aerospace Museum is located at North Field, Oakland Airport. The American Legion room chronicles the achievements of members of theAmerican Legion in military and civilian aviation and aerospace.
The commission’s funds are limited for this endeavor; member support is greatly needed for continuation of this room. Recognition is due for Dennis Matarrese, Post 117 for spearheading this Legion effort.
I learned a lot from Area Two’s Larry Leonardo and Area Three’s Bob Cozad, who have been at this for a long time. Area Four is catching up, however! In Area Four, Venice Post 177 has attended a number of functions at the LAX Flight Path Learning Center. The members enjoy these visits, and the Learning Center benefits.
 
| Wayne Parrish & Company at the LAX Flight Path Learning Center |
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In the fall of 2006, Post 177 gave the LAX Flight Path Museum $5000 in support of their flight simulator program (see discussion in section 6 below) and may eventually facilitate school visits to the museum.
Richard Mowrey in Area Five has reported that he has been working closely with the San Diego Aerospace Museum at Balboa Park, going around to local schools, handing out aerospace material to students. He has gotten the San Diego Aerospace Museum to let children in free and has persuaded San Diego Aerospace Museum staff personnel to visit in the community, especially schools in the area, where they lectured and handed out literature. Jack Wallace in Area One has acted as a docent in local air shows.2. Teachers Aerospace Education Workshops
Area Two has sponsored Teacher/Administrator workshops at NASA/Ames and San Jose State University, Aviation Dept. The commission provides one to two $500.00 scholarship for this program. Local posts are encouraged to help defray the costs borne by the Teacher / Administrator team that is chosen from within California.
Workshops have been co-sponsored by the Aerospace Commission and the NASA Ames Aerospace Education Services Program, to enhance grade school instructors’ teaching techniques in the math and science fields using aviation and aerospace teaching materials and student project materials. Emphasis has been placed on local math and science teachers who can reach 20 to 30 students per year. This type of program could be available throughout California with help from the local post and area commissioners.
3. NASA/Ames Aerospace Encounter
Although not an official project of the Dept. of California Aerospace Commission Program, the NASA/Ames Aerospace Encounter Program at NASA/Ames Research, Moffitt Federal Airfield is a unique educational program designed to inspire positive attitudes about science, math and technology for students in the 4th through 6th grade.
Since this is a free program for the public school system, transportation funds were needed to help the underrepresented schools get the students on site. To date, Mission City Post 564 has donated $4,000.00 to this worthwhile program.
4. The Teacher Meets the Astronaut
 
| Orville Wright Middle School Teacher Migliazzo Meets Buzz Aldrin |
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Department of California Commander Wayne Parrish, and Venice Post 177 Adjutant Vince Migliazzo and their lovely wives joined me at the 2006 International Space Development Conference in LA. Vince’s daughter and Orville Wright Middle School teacher Marlene Migliazzo met and chatted with Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
5. Flight Training Scholarship
In the late 1990s, Mission Post 564 made available a one-time Flight Training scholarship of $500.00 for a high school or college student who has shown the desire to enter the Armed Forces and becoming a military aviator. This was increased in 2006 to $2000.
6. Flight Simulator Training
For years now, NASA, the airlines, and military aviation have known that flight simulation can increase the effectiveness and reduce the cost of flight training. With the continued improvements in this field, it was just a matter of time until professional quality flight simulation training would benefit general aviation and our public school systems.
 
| Orville Wright student pilots in class |
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In May 2006, members of The American Legion Venice Post 177 visited the Orville Wright Middle School flight simulator class. We were very impressed. Our purpose in attending that session was to learn if we could serve the Orville Wright Middle School and possibly others in our community by facilitating such programs. With that in mind, I went back to learn more about the OWMS experience to date and their plans for the flight simulator class.
| Flight Simulator screen on take-off |
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In particular, I wanted an objective appraisal of the value to the students and an indication of the overall reliability of the equipment and the teaching service provided by the simulator supplier, who is also the classroom teacher. The OWMS faculty was satisfied on all counts.
For more on this flight simulation training school, visit:
http://www.flightsimpilot.com/Flight%20Sim%20Pilot%20Home.htm
7. Books and Authors
In this age of videos and computers, I feel that books still have a place. Accordingly, I started a pilot program within our neighborhood. I acquired an aerospace library of about 90 excellent books on flying and aerospace. Venice Post 177 offers them – and/or others of the schools’ choosing – to local schools in the name of The American Legion. (We would like to place a small gift statement from The American Legion in these books; but if that violates individual school policies, we will not do so.)
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| Neil Armstrong Biography |
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Aldrin’s Reaching for the Moon and Schorer’s Kids to Space above are aimed at elementary school students, while books like First Man, a Neil Armstrong Biography, Aldrin fiction, 19th and 21st century fiction are for older students and adults. Aerospace Magazines subscriptions, might work.
 
| Aldrin Fiction |
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| 19th and 21st Century Fiction |
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Different books will appeal to and be appropriate for different grades; the school faculties would be the best judges of that, of course. The interactions with school staff have been very pleasant, but I have been surprised to learn that these gifts appear to be of less value to the schools than I had expected. Apparently, increasing the size of a school library by 15 or 20 volumes is simply not that important to the school staff. It also appears that the “No child left behind” programs limit the flexibility and add overhead to teachers’ time. Because of this, fitting new books into the curriculum is not easy. This books idea deserves to stay on the list,but with a warning. Arranging it can be frustrating and time-consuming, and it can be expensive.
8. A Far Out Idea: PongSats
There are many, many ideas that could become worthwhile American Legion projects or
become monumental but interesting failures. Here is one very “far out” idea. At the 25th
Annual International Space Development Conference (ISDC) John Powell gave a brief
but fascinating talk about an idea that could have some promise for stimulating in young
people interest in aerospace and the investigative learning process.
From http://www.jpaerospace.com/pongsat/index.htm:
“A PongSat is an experiment that fits inside of a ping pong ball. These ping pong ball ‘satellites’ are flown to the edge of space by balloon or launched in sounding rockets. The PongSats are then returned to the student. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to get students
excited about science and engineering. There are endless possibilities for experiments that can fit inside a ping pong ball. PongSats can be as simple or complex as you want them to be. Experiments can be as simple as comparing how high a ball bounces before and after being exposed to vacuum. The PongSat can carry seeds to see if exposure to cosmic rays effect their growth. Several small inexpensive computers and other electronic can fit inside a PongSat. These can be used to create a wide range of experiments. Whether carrying a marshmallow to see if it puffs up in the vacuum of near space or an entire sophisticated satellite in miniature, PongSat can create motivation, drive and passion in the classroom. PongSats are flown at no cost to the student or school.”
To evaluate the concept I looked at the flight program. The launch record is not encouraging. In 2002, JP Aerospace had four successful launches. The launch rates in 2003 and 2004 were only half that of 2002, making it very difficult to give individual students the kind of experience that Mr. Powell had in mind. The idea does have great appeal, however, if a higher launch rate can be assured and scheduled.
In his talk, John Powell had described a special promotional $100 advertising idea:
“You mail or e-mail us your logo or message. We fly a high altitude balloon, carrying your ad, to the edge of space. We take hundreds pictures of your logo and return the vehicle to Earth by parachute. The images are given back to you on CD, along with some prints, for your use.”
That seemed like another good way to check out the program. I signed up. My email to John Powell, sent out a few hours after writing him a personal check for $100, gave him our American Legion/local school logo:
  
| A Far-Out Message of Support |
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Venice CA Post 177
American Legion
Wright Middle School/
Aero Magnet
Los Angeles CAThen I waited five months for the next launch. See that American Legion Venice Post 177 add, which went up to almost 100,000 feet, on the bottom row in the picture.
Since the ads are what provide the funds for the school experiments, this small American Legion ad itself provided some financial support to schools that had PongSat experiments on that flight. Had our school placed experiments on this flight we could have increased our support and that full panel could have been ours.
This picture is one of over 300 on the CD, which also included a short launch video. I really
enjoyed looking at the still pictures, which spanned hours and a trip to over 96,000 feet and
back. I am not ready to recommend this promising but still-developing program, however.
9. Space Day – An On-site Field Trip
Dean Davis told me about Space Day, a program that Boeing, other contractors, NASA, and the AIAA were about to put on at El Segundo Middle School. I agreed to represent The American Legion as a volunteer.
 
| Young Jet Pilot |
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| Kids & Space Capsule |
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| Warbirds Class |
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When I arrived, Ivor Dawson, President of the Traveling Space Museum assigned me to the Warbirds space station/exhibit. Warbirds is normally conducted by a person who uses airplane models to familiarize the students with whatever slivers of aviation those few models represent. A model airplane enthusiast can tell a story in this way.
| Jenny |
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Well, when I went to the assigned classroom, there were two, very old, beat up WW2 models, a German Luftwaffe Stuka, and an American Navy fighter, the Corsair. Not much of a story there for me; I was still a schoolboy during World War II. Nothing I could say about those two aircraft would be from experience; nothing I could say about them would be very interesting to the students.
| Wright Stuff |
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Thanks to Dean’s warning, I had prepared a briefing, with a handout for each student, that told a story covering 72 of the first 100 years of aviation. That story, told by means of pictures of planes and the men who flew them, was centered on two Air Force test pilots – my father and me. It also included world-renowned pilots who were friends of mine. I wound up telling that story in nine 20-minute sessions to about 200 kids that day. I had a ball, and was told later that most of them did, too.
 
| USAF Test Pilot School |
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Later in the year, at Winnetka Elementary School, I delivered a variant of this talk to eleven classes of about 20 kids each, changing the delivery for the younger students. I also wore my American Legion cap while speaking, which made an impression on many of the youngsters, who wanted to know what the various pins were for. I handed out Aerospace Commission pins to the brighter kids who asked good questions or gave good answers to my questions.
 
| Space Day Kids |
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This Space Day effort was not on my list of ideas; it just happened. It turned out to be my most useful contribution, however. In my opinion, supporting a Space Day exercise, with funds or manpower, can be a very good way for The American Legion posts to support their locals schools and community. Since it can be expensive, a partnership with organizations such as the Rotary, Elks, Knights of Columbus, and aerospace contractors would make a lot of sense.
10. Space Camps
Mission Post 564 made one scholarship available for any child in grades 4 thru 6. Scholarship selection was initiated by submitting a three hundred-word essay on “Why I would benefit from my Space Camp experience.” To foster and encourage the excitement of space and the space field, Mission Post 564 offers this scholarship to any California grade school student.
In the fall of 2006, I received the following request:
“Could you obtain and send me details and on the cost and selection of a student for the NASA-Legion Summer Space Camp. I am trying to help our posts in Orange County to support more programs for youth and young veterans.”
In response to that query, I did some research, and came up with four candidates. The descriptions below are based on 2006 programs, schedules, and costs. This information should be adequate for preliminary planning purposes, however.
The Space Camp at Marshall Space Center, Huntsville AL
This Space Camp is at the Visitors Center, just outside MSC proper, in Northern Alabama. The 2006 website: spacecamp.com offered nineteen programs for students, ages 9 to 99. Tuition ranged from $399 to $1099, and scholarships are available.
(The home page shows programs and registration information. I found the detailed program information for “Space Camp & Aviation Challenge,” to be especially interesting and helpful.)
For more information on dates & rates, call 1-800-63SPACE.
The Space Camp at Kennedy Space Center, FL
This Space Camp is at the Visitors Center, just outside KSC on the Atlantic Coast in Florida. The online material, available at: kennedyspacecenter.com, refers to youth educational programs, and notes that the Space Campers will have an opportunity to meet with an astronaut. The online material also describes Educational Resources and an Activity Guide for Teachers. The 2006 Tuition was only $280 per week, by far the lowest of the four youth camp costs mentioned in this letter. (This trip, however, would also entail the highest travel expenses from CA. One could also tie this trip in with a side junket to Disney’s Epcot Center or Washington DC.)
The Astro Camp at Idyllwild, CA
This Space Camp is at the Desert Sun Science Center, Idyllwild. The online material4 refers to a One-Week Explorer and a Two-Week Voyager course. The 2006 Tuition was listed $1550 for the two-week Voyager program.
The Sally Ride Science Camps for Girls
The Sally Ride Science Camps are not constituted in the same way as the rest of the camps; but since Sally Ride is the first the female American astronaut, one would expect that astronautics and space would be important aspects of these science camps. Thus, although the focus is somewhat different, I am sure the value to the student of these camps is at least as high as any of the others. The 2006 Sally Ride Science Camps took place on four campuses: UC Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, and the University of San Diego. Tuition ranged from $1375 to $1840 per week.
Looking at this set of four camps, the tuition can vary from less than $300 to almost $2000. Airline costs and travel expenses of supervisory staff will add to the real total. The two camps located in CA offer a distinct advantage in that regard; but Marshall and Kennedy are the “real deal.” Obviously, The American Legion could offer to pay the tuition and let the beneficiary organizations provide the rest of the funds and manage the process. To my knowledge, Mission Post 564 is the only post that has experience here.
My impression is that space camp scholarships and flight simulator programs are the “top of the line” benefit we could provide. Various aerospace companies around California have their own space camps and teaching programs, as do a number of educational institutions. The American Legion could work with such organizations in jointly sponsored programs for youth.
11. Surfing the Web
I found out about California Space and Aviation Programs on kidscamps.com. The Astrocamp Summer Programs data is from guideddiscoveries.com. The Sally Ride Science Camps for Girls information is from educationunlimited.com. If you are so inclined, an interesting way to find out much more about who is doing what in aerospace is to surf the web. Here are a few sites worth your time:Have fun!
12. Wrap-up
Well, I hope that reading this has been interesting and worth your time. Every idea here is one that can work for some American Legion post. You, of course, will decide.
Whatever you do, it will benefit your post, your community, and your nation. The foundation of America’s science and technology programs will always be the young people who enter the field. I hope that you will enjoy the experience. |
