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Wings of Eagles Discovery Center Receives NASA Award

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Big Flats – The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has awarded the Wings of Eagle Discovery Center (WEDC) $1,249,678 to help inspire the next generation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) studies and careers as the agency progresses on its Journey to Mars.

The award will be used to create a Martian Base exhibit, associated NASA STEM curriculum, and an educator professional development pilot program linking the WEDC to local underserved classrooms through novel and existing NASA-STEM Mars-themed curriculum.  The target population is K-12 students from the Elmira City School District (ECSD) their teachers, families as well as the general public.

The Mars Base Eagle exhibit will establish a permanent museum installation from which STEM programming will be launched. The interactive display will feature real-word data and inquiry challenges to demonstrate real world STEM applications including NASA-Mars transport vehicle design concepts, Mars Base design concepts, microgravity and possible effects on the human body of traveling to Mars, transport vehicle designs, agricultural methods, and types of food crops being planned for a Mars Base.

The Wings of Eagles Discovery Center will partner with Greater Southern Tier BOCES, Elmira City School District, Cornell University, Ithaca College, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, NASA Kennedy and Johnson Space Centers to complete the project.

“I have long been a supporter of the Wings of Eagle Discovery Center, one of New York’s treasures. I am pleased that NASA has recognized the important work it does and funded their proposal.  Through increasing community partnerships and by expanding on the already stellar STEM education programs it offers to children across the region, this award will allow the center to soar to new heights. I look forward to their future successes as the Center grows its mission and expands its footprint in the Southern Tier and beyond.” – U.S. Senator Charles Schumer

“This NASA grant will bring exciting, new programs to the Wings of Eagles Discovery Center so that students across the Southern Tier can learn about our space program and be inspired to take on STEM careers when they grow up,” said US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “We need to do everything we can to give our students, regardless of income level, opportunities to study STEM subjects, and this NASA grant will help us achieve this important goal. I was proud to support this funding, and I will continue to support similar educational programs in communities around the state.”

Said Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli, “Chemung County has had a long partnership with the Wings of Eagles Discovery Center and we are proud to be the hometown of Eileen Collins.  It is only fitting that this award from NASA will be used to provide students of her alma mater with the same opportunities that she had and allow them to advance their critical thinking skills through STEM education through a journey into Mars exploration.”

Said Mike Hall, President and CEO, Wings of Eagles Discovery Center, “Along with our many partners we are excited by this tremendous opportunity to serve youth in our community! Special thanks to our federal elected representatives who made this grant possible!”

NASA Grant Awarded – Mars Base Eagle

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Mars Base Eagle: Integrating students, teachers and families in the engineering process of building NASA-themed STEM museum displays: an installation and pilot project for U.S. science museums.

$1,249,678

Wings of Eagles Discovery Center will work with Board of Cooperative Educational Services Schuyler-Steuben-Chemung- Tioga-Allegany, Elmira City School District (ECSD), Cornell University, Ithaca College, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, NASA Kennedy and Johnson Space Centers to create a Martian Base exhibit, associated NASA STEM curriculum and educator professional development pilot program linking the museum to local underserved classrooms through novel and existing NASA-STEM Mars-themed curriculum. The targeted audience is grades K-12 low-income and minority students from the Elmira City underserved school district (61% economically disadvantaged), their teachers, families and the general public, The Mars Base Eagle exhibit will establish a permanent museum installation from which STEM programming (formal and informal) will be launched. The interactive display will feature real-word data and inquiry challenges to demonstrate real world STEM applications including NASA-Mars transport vehicle design concepts, Mars Base design concepts, microgravity and possible effects on the human body of traveling to Mars, transport vehicle designs, agricultural methods and types of food crops being planned for a Mars Base. The proposal seeks to create a formal NASA STEM education link between the museum and local school district curricula . The proposed pilot PD workshop series will result in 3 case-study, place-based Mars lesson plans to be integrated and piloted in 10 classrooms in the ECSD with emphasis on NASA STEM and Place-Based aspects of the approach to provide a novel approach to addressing barriers in the school districts underserved population in taking STEM coursework. Undergraduate interns from a Historically Black College and University (1890/HBCU, University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES)) will be trained as docents.
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Press Release – WEDC Volunteers to Restore Cold War Relic

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Hound Dog Missile
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wings of Eagles Discovery Center volunteers have begun work on a new restoration project thanks to the generosity of one local business.

Horseheads, NY (November 19, 2015) – Thanks to a very generous donation of men and equipment by Mike Dimon and the Dimon & Bacorn Moving Company, Elmira, NY, restoration work has begun on a 42 foot GAM-77 (Hound Dog) Cruise Missile at Wings of Eagles Discovery Center. Dimon & Bacorn assisted Wings of Eagles volunteers in moving the missile from long term storage to Wings of Eagles Discovery Center’s location at 339 Daniel Zenker Drive in Horseheads.

The project now turns to restoring the missile for display to the public. In addition to receiving new paint, decals and stencils the missile will be be reassembled, have multiple pieces repaired and replaced, and receive overall body work. For more information about the Discovery Center visit www.WINGSOFEAGLES.com or stop by during normal operating hours – Tuesday through Saturday from 11 AM to 3 PM.

Wings of Eagles Discovery Center is a regional, non-profit, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) facility in central New York state that provides formal and informal education for Kindergarten through 12th graders using aviation and space technology themed lessons. All of our programs are designed to integrate with and supplement the public classroom curriculum. In addition, Wings of Eagles Discovery Center also holds a historic aircraft collection comprised of aircraft, replicas, missiles, flight simulators and other items that are on display for public viewing. The collection covers a range of technological and cultural advances in aviation and aerospace from pre-World War II era displays to the present.

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Alison Mandel Steps Down as Director of Education

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Alison Mandel assumes new role

After nearly a decade of full time dedication to WEDC, Alison will step down as Education Director effective Sunday, September 6th. She will continue with WEDC as a part time teacher, focusing on the e-Missions she helped to develop.

Throughout her tenure, Alison accomplished many things that helped build WEDC into a Regional STEM Academy. Her development of our robotics program and e-Missions were just two of her many accomplishments. She also ran many successful Summer of Innovation sessions and built a network of professional relationships across our region.

Recently, in the face of lower staffing, she tirelessly and responsibly ran our front desk operation, spending many hours greeting visitors and guests, while continuing our many educational programs.

I want to congratulate Alison on the many great educational experiences she brought to youth from across our region and thank her for her selfless service to WEDC! Best wishes always Alison and we look forward to your regular involvement for years to come!

Mike Hall
President & CEO
Wings of Eagles Discovery Center

Nicole Burt Appointed Director of Education

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I am pleased to announce that Nicole Burt has agreed to serve as Director of Education for WEDC. Nicole will serve in this role in addition to serving as Data and Curriculum Coordinator for the Elmira City School District.

Nicole has been an active teacher with WEDC for nearly a decade and has taught many of the courses offered during Summer of innovation. She brings experience as a NASA educator and in her current full time position is keenly aware of the educational requirements in our community. Among her early challenges will be to develop “Field Trip” packages for regional schools, design programs for early childhood education and Saturday STEM classes.

Nicole’s intelligence, skills, insight and energy are exceptional. We are fortunate to have access to her services and I am excited about what our future holds. Welcome Nicole!

Mike Hall
President & CEO
Wings of Eagles Discovery Center

National STEM Teachers Workshop: Bioenergy and Bioproducts Blog – Day 2

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The day started out with a warm welcome from Michael Hall, President and CEO of Wings of Eagles Discovery Center. He reminded us that the Elmira and Ithaca area are flying capitals essentially. Many people from the area flew aircrafts or developed aircrafts or had companies. I wasn’t aware of this history of where I grew up, or at least never thought about it in the same perspective. Now that I think of it, the area is pretty remarkable and sometimes we underestimate areas and or people.

The day was filled with lectures and hands-on activities. One of the first engaging activities that we did was “mining for chocolate”. A variety of tools and cookies were handed out and we were instructed to mine all of the chocolate chips. Some people had as many tools as they needed while other people didn’t have a tool, and on the flip side, some people had a variety of resources, while other people had little to none. We can connect this activity in various ways and at various levels. But the idea was to understand that not everyone has the same tools and resources and how do we all work together to achieve success.

The next few lectures included: sustainability, Bioeconomy, Biomass, Conversion of Biomass to Bioproducts, and Systems Thinking. A lot of information was presented in each lecture and it made me think if I was doing enough for my community. I learned that Biomass is the largest source of renewable energy in the United States. I figured it would be solar power, but I was wrong. Biomass can use a variety of types of feedstock. It is beneficial by using more than one resource so we don’t deplete anything. The idea of sustainability came up many times throughout lectures. Nirav Patel from Cornell University mentioned that we teachers influence the students who then go home and tell their parents, which help mold our society. So if we expose more students to the idea of bioenergy, our societies will hopefully become more sustainable.

The highlight of the day for me was the different rotations and hands-on activities available. One of the stations had supplies to make packaging peanuts in a bio-friendly way. Another station had many byproducts on display to become aware of. My favorite was the lip balm! A few of the other stations were comparing the effectiveness of regular packaging materials verses bioproduct packaging materials. We packaged an egg any way we wanted and dropped it to test out the materials. Most people found the bioproduct packing materials to be more protective. We also made bouncy balls using various bioproducts and tested bioproduct cleaners versus regular cleaners.

Overall, my favorite parts of the day were the hands-on activities. I learn by doing (as do most people) and I was able to see how bioproducts were as usable and friendly compared to non-bioproducts. This helped open my eyes to using more environmentally friendly products. I don’t want to use Styrofoam anymore, I was to use the bioproduct packaging peanuts because instead of throwing them away, you can compost them and they dissolve and they have the same effectiveness!

by Katie Vann
Reading Specialist and WEDC Instructor