...NAVAL AIR STATION OCEANA... Left: The STEM education/lab stations provide for one-on-one engagement and learning. Below: The kids were captivated by the airshow action (NAS Oceana photos). STEM…THE IDEA AND THE PLAN Community involvement is important to NAS Oceana. Opening the gates and inviting in the people who live and work around the base can be a great way to promote that relationship. But there was always of question of could they do more? While attending Fleet Week in New York City in 2<strong>01</strong>5, Corky attended a gala at the Intrepid Museum. They were fundraising for education outreach and showed a film “Yoshi’s Story” (not the Nintendo game). The museum has a huge STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) program that the video highlighted. Corky was captivated, and his mind raced ahead, thinking of all the possibilities of doing something similar for his community. When he returned home, he spoke with the then-base Skipper, Capt. Lou “Blue” Schager, about conceivably opening the base to school kids in the Virginia Beach area. He had the Skipper’s attention. Corky got to work on a proposal. Together with the XO, Capt. Rich “Phin” Meadows, they put together an eight-page brief with their ideas. In February 2<strong>01</strong>6 he presented his idea to Dr. Aaron Spence, Superintendent of Schools for the Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VB- CPS). He caught Dr. Spence’s attention, too. The program was presented as an opportunity, not a mandate. The next hurdle would be to convince executive leadership that this event would be possible, then mid-level management, principals, and then teachers. Dr. Spence decided he would send the 5th graders in Virginia Beach City schools…all 5,500 of them! The event, the STEM Field Trip, would take place on Friday, September 9, 2<strong>01</strong>6, the rehearsal day of the airshow, and it was just six months away. Where to start? Corky put together a team to begin working on the rough plan of what they hoped to accomplish. Their goal was to “inspire and educate kids.” The team identified what they called “four pillars,” key areas that were essential for a successful execution of the event: • Transportation/Security/Logistics • Curriculum Tie-In • Interactive Displays • Media/Engagement. The school system provided 25 volunteers to be part of the STEM team. At their first STEM meeting Corky hung the four (huge) pillars on the walls around the room. As he explained the concept of the pillars, he asked the team to look at them and determine where they could do the most good. He then passed out yellow stickies and Sharpies and asked everyone to write down two questions pertaining to their pillar. Once they had their questions, everyone headed to their pillar and posted their questions. They remained at the pillars, discussing the questions. The goal was not to have all the answers that first day, but to know what the questions were so they could work on them. The next month the Skipper attended a principal’s meeting. During the meeting, he was told that there was a ground swell among the teachers, and the excitement was building. It was a very positive response. E www.airshowmag.com 18 January/February <strong>2<strong>01</strong>9</strong>
World Airshow News 19 January/February <strong>2<strong>01</strong>9</strong>