21st Century After School Programs - Fairbanks School District

Currently CAP has 22 different STEM kits available for FREE to educators, homeschool parents, libraries, museums, and youth organizations

SHIPPING IS FREE TO ANYWHERE IN ALASKA!!!
All kits are yours to keep, simply use them and complete a 10 question questionnaire and order your next kit.

Membership in the program is only a ONE-TIME $35 membership fee and free yearly renewals.

https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/programs/aerospace-education/join-as-an-aem

Polaris K-12 School, Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage Association for the Education of Young Children, Anchorage School Business Partnership, United Way of Anchorage, Frontier Charter School, Camp Fire Alaska, Fairbanks BEST Homeschool, Anchorage STREAM Academy, IDEA Homeschool, FOCUS Homeschool, Boys & Girls Clubs Alaska - Rural Clubhouses, United Way of Mat Su, Alaska Private and Home Educators Association (APHEA), Alaska Association of Elementary School Principals, PACE Statewide Homeschool, Raven Homeschool, Cyberlynx Homeschool and Correspondence School, Homeschoolers Of Kodiak, Stone Soup Group, Pacific Northern Academy, North Slope Borough School District, 21st Century After School Programs - Fairbanks School District, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District CTE, Anchorage School District, Chugach Optional Elementary, Chugach School District

Young pilots with an eye for aviation careers get a jumpstart at Civil Air Patrol’s glider camp
newsminer.com · by Kris Capps

Glider instructor Don Burand kept a close eye on the student-piloted glider as it approached the airstrip to land.

“Wait for it, wait for it,” he muttered. The glider landed smoothly and he exclaimed out loud, “That’s how it’s done.”

Burand and six other instructors, along with five or six tow pilots, worked all week with 17 young pilots, helping them practice glider takeoffs and landings at Clear Airfield during the annual Civil Air Patrol Glider Academy. The airfield is located between Clear Space Force Station and the city of Anderson. The annual academy was strongly supported by the Space Force Station and Denali Borough School District’s Anderson School. Civil Air Patrol’s Alaska Wing provided the gliders.

The young pilots are between the ages of 14 and 18, and they come from Civil Air Patrol squadrons throughout the state. For young people with a passion for aviation, this is the place to be this week.

The academy provides real-life experience, first-hand information about career paths in aviation, and most importantly, leadership training.

Instructors are calling the academy a “pilot pipeline” and say it is helping to fill a shortage of pilots nationwide.

Students at the academy include first-timers working toward soloing in gliders for the first time, as well as student pilots who already soloed and are now working toward getting their FAA check ride, according to Brian Porter, academy director.

Accomplishing those goals requires commitment and focus.

“Life and death decisions are made by kids on this runway,” Porter said.

“There’s no re-set button,” added Burand.

Every young pilot has a task. They all know what needs to be done and how to do it when it is needed. They work together as a team. One instructor described these enthusiastic students as a “well oiled NASCAR crew.”

There’s Kate Lukic, 16, of Anchorage, an advanced student working on her FAA check ride. She said she has made 75 glider flights and already soloed. There’s Rachel Anderson, 14, a homeschooler from Anchorage who wants to be a helicopter pilot.

Dylan Pittsenbargar, 15, of Anchorage knew he wanted to fly after taking an orientation ride in a Cessna 172 when he was 12 years old. He is working toward his goal of becoming a pilot in the U.S. Air Force. He said he is inspired daily, watching flights come and go from Merrill Field, near where he lives.

Madeline Anderson, 16, lives at Elmendorf Air Force Base. She has her hopes set on becoming a stunt pilot or maybe even an aviation photographer.

Annie Zieismer, 18, of Anchorage is an advanced student who plans to enlist in the U.S. Space Force. She suffered an ear infection this week and couldn’t fly, so she volunteered to keep the flight log and document every flight, every day.

The students’ enthusiasm is matched by their pilot instructors and support crew, who all devote personal time to this program every year.

Major Andy Coykendall, of Sitka, a veteran of both the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Air Force, acted as “Air Boss,” keeping careful tabs on everything happening on the airfield. His job was to keep that airfield safe and efficient.

“I love these kids,” he said. It’s exciting, he added, to watch them all “springboard into life.” This academy, he said, exposes them to aerospace education and leadership.

During a lull between flights, Lt. Col Edward Daly pointed to the sky and asked students to analyze the clouds and predict where the thermals could be found.

“That’s the gas station in the sky,” he told them.

And one by one, each instructor hopped into a glider, with a student, and helped them learn how to hone their skills as a glider pilot.

One of those instructors is Clare Porter, a senior at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

“I’m honored to get to be a part of it,” she said. “They do so much with so little. They’re just cranking out sorties.”

Her personal goal is to fly C-130s.

This small annual academy will help both military and commercial aviation, said academy director Brian Porter. It helps bridge the gap from solo gliders to private pilot certificates, he said, describing that as “a quantum leap.”

Who wouldn’t want to be in a glider, wondered Burand. The former T-38 supersonic jet pilot said it is the closest anyone can get to experiencing being in the cockpit of a jet fighter — without actually being in a fighter plane, he said. Same canopy, same G-forces.

The skills students learn here — from how to use the radios to how to respond to emergencies to working together as a team — are all vital to successful aviators.

“We need good leaders,” Coykendall said. “This is the best way to learn.”

Reach columnist/community editor Kris Capps at [email protected]. Follow her at Twitter.com/FDNMKris.

United Way of Anchorage, Alaska Private and Home Educators Association (APHEA), 21st Century After School Programs - Fairbanks School District, United Way of the Tanana Valley, Seward Community Foundation, Alaska Children's Trust, United Way of Mat Su, Alaska Afterschool Network, Alaska Learns, American Legion Jack Henry Post 1, Air & Space Forces Association - Midnight Sun Chapter, Mike Ross KTUU Channel 2 News, Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage School Business Partnership, Alaska Airmen's Association, Alaska Association of Elementary School Principals, Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals: AASSP

Fairbanks Area Teachers, Homeschool parents, Librarians, and Youth Organization leaders

Are you ready to take to the skies while sitting in the front seat of an AK Civil Air Patrol aircraft? We are scheduling now for members to fly for FREE for 45-60 minutes in the front seat of one of our aircraft. Not a member, not a problem. Enroll today for a one-time membership fee of $35 and fly for free once a year as long as you remain a member. Included in your educator membership is access to over 20 different STEM kits also for free including the shipping...even to Alaska.

Questions? Contact [email protected] or call 907...240...7888 to schedule your flight today

Fairbanks North Star Borough, Fairbanks Library Foundation, Fairbanks Children's Museum, Yukon-Koyukuk School District, Fairbanks Youth-Development, Farthest North Girl Scout Council, Scouts BSA Troop 20 Goldstream AK, Boys & Girls Club of Fairbanks, Teaching and Learning - Fairbanks School District, 21st Century After School Programs - Fairbanks School District, IDEA Homeschool, Alaska 4-H, Nenana City Schools, Nenana Community Page, Nenana Public Library, North Pole Elementary School, Northern Interior Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children, North Pole Middle School, Salcha Elementary Library, Salcha/ Birch Lake Community Page, ,

Chief School Administrator, Karen Melin, and Student Support Services, Executive Director, Carla Marquand, recently joined our Anne Wien Elementary River Otters during After School Program (ASP) to engage and connect with students during their academic and enrichment activities.

The team experienced the students participating in fencing, 3D printing, sight-word sprinting, and more, all facilitated by the amazing Anne Wien ASP Staff under the leadership of 21st CCLC Anne Wien Coordinator, Lea Hood, Anne Wien Principal Michael Angaiak, and 21st Century After School Programs - Fairbanks School District, Lindsy Weaver.

Thanks, Anne Wien ASP for a great visit!

Learn more about the FNSBSD After School Programs: https://www.facebook.com/AfterSchoolProgramsFairbanks

Civil Air Patrol AE FREE STEM Kit Program

FEATURED STEM KIT - BRIDGE BUILDING:

The Bridge Building pack contains enough materials for 24 cadets/students to build and test their very own bridges. While working on this kit, cadets/students will be challenged to design structurally sound bridges while using problem solving skills to implement changes in their design. Cadets/students will study the properties of physics and its place in structural engineering.
This kit comes with 360 pieces of Basswood, 24 bottles of glue, 24 sets of instructions and a Teacher’s guide -- Teaching with Model Bridge Building Programs. A DVD also will be included that follows a class throughout the bridge-building process. This kit, recommended for ages 9 and older, is perfect for young architects and engineers to design the bridges of the future.

Aviation connection: Using the included materials, youth will develop innovative bridges that can connect airplanes to terminals allowing passengers to deplane quickly from the aircraft. Students will use scientific and mathematical formulas, engineering principles and unique designs that can structurally hold weight and withstand natural elements on Earth as well as other planets and even the Moon!

Approved applicants can expect to receive one or two Bridge Building STEM Kits.

Denali PEAK, PACE Statewide Homeschool, Alaska Private and Home Educators Association (APHEA), Polaris K-12 School, Alaska Learns, Teaching and Learning - Fairbanks School District, Upstream Learning, Alaska Airmen's Association, Air Force Association Midnight Sun Chapter, Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals: AASSP, Alaska Association of Elementary School Principals, Seward Community Foundation, Fairbanks BEST Homeschool, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, Tok School, Galena City School District, Valdez City Schools, Raven Homeschool, Juneau, Raven Homeschool - Wasilla Office, Raven Homeschool, Raven Homeschool - Anchorage Office Families, IDEA Homeschool, IDEA Homeschool, IDEA Homeschool, Frontier Charter School, Family Partnership, Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, Anchorage STREAM Academy, Anvil City Science Academy, Barrow High School "Home of the Runnin' Whalers", Boys & Girls Club of Utqiaġvik, Northern Interior Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children, The Learning Connection - TLC - a program of SERRC, Anchorage 21st Century Community Learning Centers Advisory Board, 21st Century After School Programs - Fairbanks School District, Begich Middle School 21st Century