March 2025: An Update from AFA’s Aerospace Education Council

March 25, 2025   |   By Gary Copsey

Lots going on in AFA’s Aerospace Education Council (AEC)! We’re revving up for all the normal spring activity, such as scholarships and Teacher of the Year, as well as JROTC, AFROTC, and CAP awards.

Our biggest accomplishment in February was the completion of AEC 2022-24 Assessment, which will give us some great insight into our programs. The objectives of this annual assessment are to:

  1. Assess program performance for each of AFA’s Education programs.
  2. Develop a statistical and visual view of program participation within AFA.
  3. Develop recommended priorities for developing financial/fundraising support.
  4. Enable the Field Council to view field participation and make recommendations for moving forward. (More to follow on that in the future.)

Objective 2 was accomplished by Mary Anne Thompson creating a map of the US that displayed the specific numbers by state for each program. This information should prove very helpful to chapters and will be available to everyone soon.

We have wrapped up CyberPatriot XVII and we are coming up on the StellarXplorers National Finals in Denver in April. Read about those and other great education news from the last month:

Keep working on your Chapter Teacher of the Year! I also urge chapters near an Air or Space Force Base with an education office to get in touch with them about CCAF graduations and Pitsenbarger awards. Remember, we have the new “Pitsenbarger Full Measure” award that will be a $3,000 award to one Airman or Guardian annually. But… they must apply!

Regards from South Texas, 

Gary Copsey

Vice Chair of the Board, Education