And That Wraps Up 42 Years! The Lion's Gate Competes its In School Field Trip Program. The Imaginairum Theater.

Central Elementary. 1983-1984                  Renaissance Academy 2024-2025

                        

And That Wraps Up Year 42.  

     "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." That saying sums up my thoughts at the end of each school year. Every one of my 42 years has presented challenges that made me question why I entered the field of education. Yet, every one of those years has also brought its joys and successes, reaffirming my choice to dedicate my career to education. 

     From 1983 to 1990, I taught sixth grade full-time at Central Elementary, and from 1990 to 2013, I taught one period of 6th-grade math daily from 9:00 to 9:45 a.m. I would conclude my math lesson, dismiss the students, and hurry to the Voyager simulator for my morning field trip flight. For the first two years the Space Center was open, I also taught one period of 6th-grade social studies right after our field trip, from 1:45 to 2:30 p.m. 

     I retired from the Alpine School District in 2013 after 30 wonderful years to pursue my goal of returning to the classroom full time. In 2013, I began teaching 6th grade and assisting Bracken Funk at The Space Place at Renaissance Academy, where I remain. On Saturdays, you can find me back at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center, assisting Mr. Porter, the Space Center Director, with the volunteer program. 

     I'm proud of what my students achieved this year. We had fun with my government World War I simulation. They worked very hard in math. My four sixth-grade math classes scored 69% proficient on the state RISE math exam, while the Utah 6th-grade RISE math proficiency stands at 38.3%. 

     Teaching is a rewarding career, and I encourage young adults to consider it when they consider their post-high school lives.  You will find it the most demanding job you've ever done and the most rewarding.  Another benefit is your summer vacation. And then, at the beginning of August, it all starts anew when a new batch of younglings walks into your classroom ready for a new adventure.

The Lion's Gate Space Center at Lakeview Academy Wraps Up Their In-School Field Trip Program. 298 Missions!  

    Our friends at the Lion's Gate Space Center completed 298 missions to wrap up their in-school field trip program. All students at Lakeview Academy go on missions in the school's two starship simulators, the Apollo and Artemis.  

     The space center program plays an essential role in Lakeview Academy's educational program, which means the Lion's Gate staff and volunteers always needed to be at their best, which they were.  I was privileged to spend a day with them when the CMSC Space Center's volunteers came out for a mission.  We all left impressed with the professionalism and quality of the Lion's Gate Space Center experience.  

     The Lion's Gate Space Center will soon add two more Starship Simulators and a Space Station Simulator to its growing fleet of ships.  "Wow!" is all I can say about their successes.  

     Keep it up, Lion's Gate Pride!        

Imaginarium Theater. 

The Week's Best Videos From Around the World Edited for a Gentler Audience

The 2024-2025 Voyager Club Long Duration Missions at The Space Place Wraps Up the School Year with a Saturday Mission. The Space Center's Last Field Trip of the Year. My Class Experiences Hyper-Inflation. Edgemont Elementary School's Space Lab, the Imaginairum Theater.

 

The Final Crew of the 2024-2025 Voyager Club Long Duration Mission

      The Voyager Club at The Space Place at Renaissance Academy comprises two divisions: the LDM Flight Crews and the Volunteering Group. You can be a member of both. The LDM Flight Crew is divided into squadrons of 9 - 12 cadets. This year, we had 170 cadets enrolled in the Flight Crews, ranging in age from 8 to 14.  Every squadron does the same LDM (Long Duration Mission) with varying difficulty determined by age.  The missions began in September. The last squadron to finish the LDM flew its last installment on Saturday. The flights are usually held Monday-Friday, after school, with the rare Saturday missions.  Saturday's squadron was shorthanded because of the Saturday time, so several had to operate two stations. 

     They succeeded in the end. A loud, victorious cheer was heard throughout the empty school, and that was a school year wrap-up. Congratulations to everyone for a great nine-month mission full of ups and downs, and congratulations to The Space Place staff and Voyager volunteers for your excellent performance every afternoon.  

     The Space Place staff will have two weeks off to prepare the Starship Voyager for a summer of fun space camps for ages 10 to 16.  To book your place on one of the summer space camps, please use this link.

Celebrate the Christa McAuliffe Space Center's Field Trip Staff. The 2024-2025 Field Trip Year Ended on Friday.

Brylee, Jordan, Ellie, Audrey, Scott, and Tyler

Field trips are the Space Center's first responsibility to the Alpine District. All other Space Center programs follow. For most of our patrons, the field trip was their first Space Center experience. Therefore, the Space Center's field trip staff have a weighty responsibility to always be at their best to provide our visitors with the best field trip in Utah.

Friday was their last field trip for the school year. The staff can rest, recuperate, and prepare for a busy summer camp season.

Mr. Porter, Space Center Director, wrote the following about the staff:

A portion of our space center field trip staff gather together after cleaning the ships one last time, since we just finished our last field trip for the school year. Another great year of inspiring kids, perhaps traumatizing a few, getting some planetarium motion sickness, and definitely making long-lasting memories. Our staff are amazing, and we are so privileged to serve the students of our community.

Teaching Using Simulations. It is What We Do.

Students Arriving at School and Seeing Hyper-Inflation at Work 

    I started teaching with simulations at Central Elementary School in Pleasant Grove, Utah, at the end of the 1982-1983 school year.  That year, my focus was on space. It was the first year I ran the simulated space missions.  The following school year, I added historical simulations to the curriculum. That year, we fought World War I from Russia's viewpoint over two months, we then switched to the German side, and the students lived through Germany's surrender, the Versailles Treaty, hyper-inflation, and the rise of Hitler and the slide into World War II.  We finished the year running a simulation allowing them to live under a communist economic system.  

     This year, my students finished the 43rd World War I sim.  They lost, and last week, they received the Versailles Treaty and the humiliation that followed.  We had a lengthy class discussion on how they would make the war payments required by France, Britain, and the United States. We have a class currency that they earn and spend, and their payment would be in the class currency, but they didn't have a fraction of the money required in the payment scheme.  After a thoughtful debate, they decided to start the printing presses and mass produce class money.  After all, it is just paper.  Over the following two days, they were shocked and dismayed after seeing the results of their decision.  The prices in my little "German Store" changed by the hour.  Before they decided to print massive amounts of money, a donut and candy were 3 DM.  On Friday, the day started with the prices in the photo above.  

     New Reichstag elections were held on Thursday. The Liberty Party won the most seats in the 5-seat Reichstag (German parliament). The Liberty Party promises to bring down inflation. 

     Teaching with simulations (Experiential Education) takes more time than direct instruction, but the learning is remembered far longer, and it makes school FUN.  

Provo's Edgemont Elementary School's Space Lab for Mission.io Missions.

    

     Edgemont Elementary School has been running InfinD's, now Mission.io's, space missions for several years.  They have a dedicated computer lab for the missions, decorated to resemble a space station or a starship.  Skyler Carr highlights the lab and the new history Mission.io simulation in the video below.    

The Imaginarium Theater

The Week's Best Videos From Around the World Edited for a Gentler Audience

The Starship Voyager's Test Mission for Prelude. The John Williams Legacy in Lasers Show Opened on Saturday. Imaginarium Theater.

 

The Test Crew for the Voyager's New 4-Hour Mission

     Several years ago, I wrote a mission for the newly opened Voyager. It was told for a school year, then shelved so we could onboard the school's Young Astronauts and Voyager Club school year LDM's (Long Duration Missions).  A month ago, Bracken and I decided to bring the mission back, with changes to increase it from a 2.5-hour mission to 4 hours with the working title "Prelude".  Bracken spent the last few weeks creating all-new tactical screens and videos and an extensive Thorium timeline.  

      Yesterday, the extended Prelude was told for the first time to a small test crew composed of one Space Place employee, three Space Center Voyagers, two Lion's Gate Space Center staff, and the Great Alex Anderson - creator of Thorium, the software used by most of Utah Valley's starship simulators.  

     It was an informal briefing in the Art Room. The primary purpose of the briefing was to familiarize the crew with the Farpoint Universe and select jobs. In addition, the crew was told to patrol the Cardilir Border Zone as their mission objective.  

     The crew boarded the ship, training commenced, and then.......something went wrong.

It wouldn't be proper to say what because this mission will be told to many of our Voyager Club members over time and, of course, to The Space Place's visitors.  

    

      Bracken leaves plenty of time after the mission for crew feedback. This test crew had 30 minutes to dissect the mission and offer suggestions for improving the story and their individual jobs during the mission.  We are grateful for the feedback.  

      A big shout out to the Voyager's patient, hard-working staff, and Voyager Volunteers who staffed the test mission.  They kept up with Bracken's story pacing, did an excellent job with the acting roles, and feasted on an endless supply of pizza and donuts.  And congratulations to Henry for running the Voyager's IIFX (2nd Chair) position.  Usually, that job goes to Livy and Megan. However, Livy was on the test crew, and Megan was needed on the Cassini.  In the trade, we call this a battlefield promotion. 

The John Williams Laser Show Opened Last Night 

     Yesterday, I found Mr. Porter, the Space Center's Director, hard at work in the Planetarium's Crow's Nest as I gave a tour of the Space Center to several potential new members of the Space Center's Voyager Explorers Club.  He waved his arm overhead so they could see him over the desk and the computers.  

Mr. Porter, bathed in the Crow's Nest Red Lights, Creating the Visuals for the New John Williams Laser Show

      The show's opening night was yesterday at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $7.00 per person, and there are several shows to choose from every weekend. Get your tickets and bring the entire family to this outstanding laser experience with the finest film music ever written! 

Imaginairum Theater

The Week's Best Videos From Around the World Edited for a Gentler Audience 

The Music of John Williams, A New Laser Show at the Space Center's Planetarium. Magellan and Cassini Run Test Missions Last Week. Imaginairum Theater

 The Christa McAuliffe Space Center's Newest Planetarium Laser Show:  John Williams!

     This laser show is for all you John Williams fans out there.  Come to the Space Center's planetarium to hear your favorite movie soundtracks on the planetarium's sound system and enjoy the laser show and the fog!   

     The planetarium provides a large part of the Space Center's yearly operating budget. By attending a show, you support the Space Center and our continuing mission to educate the public on the wonders of space and the future of space travel.  

Two Test Missions were Held This Week

The Magellan, Testing a New Bridge Thorium Configuration.

      Thursday evening, the Magellan ran a test mission. Typically, test missions are the first tellings of new missions; think of them as dress rehearsals.  The Magellan did something different. The staff told an existing story, but tested a new Thorium ship controls configuration.  Connor Larsen explained that too much was happening at too many stations, and the crews were missing essential story elements.  The new Thorium configuration is designed to reduce the station's "busy" work to see if less work will result in better story understanding and participation.  The "test" crew comprised Voyager Club members from The Space Center and The Space Place at Renaissance Academy. 

The Cassini.  "Song of Stone". 

     Hyrum Sasser wrote "Song of Stone" for the Cassini.  It is a 2.5 hour mission and was told for the first time on Saturday.  The test crew consisted of Voyager Club members from The Space Center and The Space Place at Renaissance Academy. Bracken Funk manned the sensors station. He is the Director of the The Space Place.  

     The Control Room was a busy place. Everyone was focused on telling the story while working out the bugs as they popped up.  Jade Hansen took detailed notes on the mission for staff review afterwards. 

     Song of Stone is Hyrum's first mission. Will it be a hit :) or a dud :(  I've written my share of both in my 35 years of space centering. All I know is that everyone had a good time.  The mission will be told again once the staff fixes bugs and polishes the story points that need editing.  

     All new missions need at least a few dress rehearsals before being offered to the public. 

I look forward to seeing the polished story. 

The Imaginairum Theater

The Week's Best Videos from Around the World Edited for a Gentler Audience