AFA Supports Civil Air Patrol’s ACE Program

July 30, 2024   |   By Susan Mallet

CAP’s K-6th grade Aerospace Connections in Education (ACE) program celebrated the ‘sweet 16’ year milestone by exceeding 100,000 students this past academic year. The impact the program has made on over 638,000 students across the nation since its inception in 2006 has been phenomenal. AFA has been an integral part of the program each year by providing annual award grants to the national ACE award recipients.  

The following 2024 National ACE Award Recipients received AFA Grants: 

  • National ACE School of the Year: Grayhawk Elementary School  
  • National ACE Coordinator of the Year: Grayhawk’s Mrs. Michelle Lindstrom ~ Principal, Mr. Eli Hubbell, Scottsdale, Ariz.  
  • National ACE Teacher of the Year: Mr. Thomas Ellis, 5-8thGrade Science Teacher Palm Beach Day Academy, Palm Beach, Fla.  
  • National ACE Collaborative Teacher of the Year: Mrs. Caitlin Hayes, STEM Teacher St John the Apostle Catholic School, Virginia Beach, Va.  
  • National ACE Resource Teacher of the Year: Mrs. Kayla Kill, LeMay Elementary School, Bellevue, Neb.  
  • National ACE Students of the Year: Mason Grinder, 6th Grade Macon County R-IV School New Cambria, Mo. ~ Mrs. Dawn Johnson, Teacher; Kyle Adams, 6th Grade Palm Beach Day Academy Palm Beach, Fla. ~ Mr. Thomas Ellis, Teacher  
  • National ACE Plus Adopt Collaborative Squadron and School Teams of the Year: GLR-MI-059 & Prairie Elementary School, Adrian, Mich. SER-FL-049 & Ormond Beach Middle School, Ormond Beach, Fla. 

Developed by a team of educators, written by teachers for teachers, the ACE program connected well with kindergarten through sixth grade classrooms. The program was solidified to symbolize its components, which aligned with CAP’s cadet program model for youth ages 12 and above.  

Using the aerospace theme, students in elementary schools were exposed to lessons that covered all areas of academics taught by classroom teachers. Additionally, the school counselor taught character education and the physical education teacher taught physical fitness. Air Force funds provided grade-level curriculum guides and class sets of manipulative teaching items to the teachers implementing the program. Interested K-8 schools and middle schools began using the sixth-grade curriculum for their middle school students, expanding the scope of the program.  

The ACE program thus began its 16-year journey into every state and in DOD schools in Europe.  Today, the ACE program is one of the reasons elementary and middle school teachers join CAP as Aerospace Education members. The online curriculum is ready-to-teach and includes background information, hands-on activities, assessment tools, and links to further explore the lesson topics in an interactive manner. The class sets of manipulative educational items align with some of the lessons, which makes instruction fun and engaging for students and teachers.  From the beginning, the ACE program was designed to have guest instructors teach some of the lessons to ACE classrooms. Guest instructors included CAP members and cadets, as well as community members, to include AFA chapter members. AFA chapters have not only taught lessons, they’ve also supported the ACE teachers with distinctive ACE shirts, which include the AFA and CAP logos. 

Beyond schools and classrooms, ACE is being taught in home schools, libraries, museums, afterschool and summer programs, and youth organizations, such as the Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, 4-H programs, and even Women in Aviation International (WAI) chapters. Each year more formal and informal K-8th grade educators join CAP and have their students become “faces of ACE.” 

The ACE program reaches and influences under-represented youth as 78% of ACE classrooms are in Title I (or at risk) schools. ACE students include an almost equal number of both genders and a broad range of ethnicities. 

The number of ACE students has grown each year, with last academic year reaching a new record of almost 98,000 youth. This academic year was a milestone year with participants exceeding 100,000 ACE students!   

An extension of the ACE program began during COVID to allow CAP squadrons to meet virtually with ACE teachers to help them continue to teach the ACE lessons and introduce the cadet program for grades five through eight. The ACE Plus program is ongoing with CAP squadrons in all eight regions “adopting” ACE classrooms and, now, going into the schools to teach ACE and other aviation lessons, introduce the students to various aerospace-related STEM careers, and expose the students to new role models. CAP adult and cadet members, as well as guest subject-matter experts, such as AFA chapter members, are frequent aviation-related guests in the classrooms.  

Many squadrons invite the students to visit cadet squadron meetings, take the teachers on CAP Teacher Orientation Program (TOP) flights, and coordinate field trips to the airport to further experience aviation opportunities.  A total of 98% of ACE teachers report that ACE fits well with their academic standards, supports STEM education, is a valuable use of time, and is a positive influence on behavior and learning.  

Each year, stellar ACE and ACE Plus participants are recognized for their excellent work within the ACE program. This year’s national ACE award recipients have been selected and are listed here.  

As the ACE program sponsor, the AFA provides grant awards to all awardees. Some AFA chapters work with CAP squadrons in the ACE Plus program, purchase ACE shirts for the students, and support special ACE lift-off events at the school. CAP appreciates all of the involvement and support of the ACE program.   

The 2024 National ACE School of the Year, Grayhawk Elementary School in Scottsdale, Ariz., will host the 2024-2025 national ACE lift-off in October under the leadership of the national ACE coordinator, Grayhawk STEM Specialist, Michelle Lindstrom. CAP and AFA members will be involved in the national lift-off event. And a new year of ACE programmatic influence will begin. ACE program registration begins August 1 each year. For more information and support, contact ace@capnhq.gov.