AFA Supports Civil Air Patrol’s National Youth STEM Program Event in Arizona
October 30, 2024
Civil Air Patrol’s national youth aerospace-related STEM education program, Aerospace Connections in Education (ACE), begins each academic year with a national ACE lift-off event hosted by the previous year’s national ACE school of the year. This academic year, the host school was Grayhawk Elementary in Scottsdale, Ariz. With over 600 students, staff, community leaders, and parents in attendance during the October event, AFA’s Frank Luke Chapter President, Stephanie Myer, presented the school a check to help support the cost of the “sea of purple shirts” the students and staff were wearing.
AFA has supported CAP’s nationwide ACE program for more than a decade to provide ACE award grants, AFA chapter representatives to support classroom programs, and donations to help provide the distinctive purple ACE shirts for classrooms. All ACE materials, shirts, and certificates carry the AFA logo to help share the message of AFA and CAP being partners in aerospace/STEM education. In many areas, AFA chapters partner with CAP squadrons to support ACE classrooms in the ACE Plus program.
The ACE program is a grade-level specific program that supports kindergarten through eighth-grade classrooms using the aerospace theme to promote all areas of academics, good character, and physical fitness for living a healthy and drug-free lifestyle. Since the program’s inception in 2007, over 750,000 students have been impacted in thousands of classrooms across the nation. Last year alone, over 100,000 ACE students took part in this motivational STEM program. Teachers boast of increased science test scores, improved student behavior in class, and more students becoming interested in the various aerospace-related STEM careers learned through the 22-lesson curriculum provided for each grade level. Some students, ages 12 and above, are introduced to the CAP cadet program and join a local squadron to have the opportunity for greater exploration of aviation, space, and cyber programs and future careers.
During the 2024 ACE Lift-off event in Arizona, ACE program leaders from CAP’s national presented the 2024 National ACE School of the Year award to school principal Eli Hubbell, and the 2024 National ACE Coordinator of the Year award to the school’s STEM specialist, Michelle Lindstrom. In attendance were other CAP guests, including the Arizona Wing Director of aerospace education, Lt. Col Ron Marks, the Falcon Composite Squadron 305 Color Guard, and several cadets who spoke to the students about becoming a pilot and the opportunities within the CAP cadet program.
CAP also provided a special Cessna flyover during the event where the school nurse and VP of the PTO were able to field questions from the students on the ground to describe their flight overhead.
The school system superintendent, Dr. Jason Reynolds, was joined by others from his staff, the Central Office Governing Board and Cabinet, and Scottsdale Mayor Dave Ortega. Also supporting the event were students’ parents and community members from the Scottsdale Fire Department, Native Air Life Flight Helicopters, the Arizona Astronomical Society, and the Arizona Science Center each providing activities and mentors for the students’ special STEM day.