During the 2022-2023 school year, WV STARBASE Charleston hosted 78 academies from Kanawha and Putnam County School Districts. The program served 1,887 5th grade students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. The implementation of new instruction for the school year provided cutting edge curriculum that best meets the needs of our students.
WV STARBASE Charleston operated a STARBASE Advanced program, an after-school mentoring program for middle school students. The STARBASE Advanced program was held at Hayes Middle School with a focus on robotics and drones.
STEM outreach is an additional commitment of the STARBASE program. WV STARBASE Charleston is fully partnered and committed to both the West Virginia Army and Air Guard Family Readiness and Child and Youth Programs. During the year, WV STARBASE Charleston provided STEM outreach to military dependents and the community through Trunk or Treat, Evening with Santa, Military Purple Ball and the 130th Family Day. From October through January, the program hosted parent counties Elementary, Middle and High School Robotics and Drone Competition with a STARBASE Advanced team going on to compete at the World Championship Competition.
The WV Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) organization visited WV STARBASE Charleston and enjoyed the “hands-on, minds-on” STEM curriculum while visiting. Throughout the school year, the program provided STEM instruction to more than 120 Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy-South students.
WV STARBASE Charleston offered multiple STEM summer camps for military dependents. The summer camps were offered at Charleston and at two remote armories, reaching a whole new demographic of military dependents that would otherwise never have such an opportunity. This extends the district by two additional counties. WV STARBASE Charleston provided STEM instruction during the WV National Guard’s annual Kids Kamp in Kingwood. The program’s presence is strong and growing throughout the Central and Southern areas of West Virginia
|
|
STARBASE Martinsburg strives to foster student excitement and engagement in STEM subjects and has been committed to this endeavor since 2003. Located at the 167th Airlift Wing, STARBASE Martinsburg ignites a passion for STEM by providing “hands-on, minds-on” activities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. STARBASE Martinsburg currently serves all fifth-grade students from Berkeley and Jefferson counties in the Eastern Panhandle, providing classes with 25 hours of DoD approved curriculum spanning five consecutive days. Participating students interact with military personnel to explore careers and observe real-word STEM applications. The program aims to encourage students to explore STEM opportunities.
Operating three classrooms, STARBASE Martinsburg hosted 95 academies for 2,300 students during the 2022-2023 school year. The staff of STARBASE Martinsburg consists of a Program Director, Office Manager/Program Instructor, four Program Instructors, and two permanent, part-time Instructor Assistants.
In 2023, STARBASE Martinsburg hosted its first community STEM Night to raise STEM awareness to children of all ages. In partnership with the National Guard DDR program, the community event hosted more than 500 attendees and 30 vendors. STARBASE Martinsburg also participated in providing STEM programs for local elementary schools. Students navigate STEM themed stations exploring topics including density, robotics, physics, and chemistry. STARBASE Martinsburg even volunteers as science fair judges at various elementary and intermediate schools.
In addition to providing STEM related programs to elementary and intermediate aged students, STARBASE Martinsburg operated two sessions (thirty weeks total) of STARBASE Advanced 2.0, an after-school mentoring program providing the missing link for at-risk youths making the transition from elementary to middle and on to high school. These after-school programs, held at Mountain Ridge Middle and Hedgesville Middle, allowed more than 50 middle school students the opportunity to work alongside 18 mentors from the 167th Airlift Wing.
STARBASE Martinsburg also offered summer programs for students aimed at advancing STEM education at various grade levels. Three, on-site, summer STEM Camps geared towards students ages 9-14 were held, as well as three “Little Einstein’s” camps designed to promote STEM education among younger students (ages 5-8). STARBASE Martinsburg also provided STEM education to Jefferson and Berkeley County Public School Systems summer school programs.
In July, STARBASE Martinsburg collaborated with Kansas, California, and Virginia STARBASE sites to participate in STARBASE Beyond 3.0, an initiative designed to reach high school students by offering advanced STEM topics and activities to keep the passion for science inquiry strong with older students. To make the program successful, STARBASE Martinsburg partnered with the JROTC Cyber Patriot Camp and other STARBASE instructors to host a robotics camp reaching students across the nation.
|