STEM, part two
by Senator Will Espero
District 20
2009 is the year of “Apollo: the Next Generation, Return to the Moon” for the 19th annual Future Flight Hawaii summer program. The theme mirrors the goal of the U.S. as it competes with China and Japan to see which country will be the next to return an astronaut to the moon. Future Flight Hawaii inspires and equips the next generation of explorers by using the excitement of space to catalyze student interest in science, technology and the future. Initiated in 1991 under the Office of Space Industry in the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, Future Flight has hosted more than 8,500 students and parents statewide. Training modules with a mission context help students feel like real scientists, with “laboratory voyages” taking them on journeys of exploration to the moon, Mars, and Earth. Staff educators design the programs with contributions from Hawaii Space Grant Consortium scientists and NASA resources.
Future Flight Director Art Kimura oversees a wide range of space-themed science programs in Hawaii: the summer enrichment program; residential and non-residential science and technology camps; family science nights that reach 4,000 children, parents, and teachers annually; support to NASA Explorer schools; coordination of the Astronaut Ellison Onizuka Science Day and the Astronaut Lacy Veach Day of Discovery; coordination of the Hawaii Botball robotics regional tournament; and support to schools and teachers in STEM.
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