History of STARBASE

STARBASE began in 1989, as an idea in the minds of three people.  Barbara Koscak, a Michigan elementary school teacher; Brigadier General David Arendts (Ret.), Commander of the 127th Fighter Wing at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan; and Lieutenant Colonel Rico Racosky, an F-16 pilot and creator of dreams + action=Reality.

Their dream was to create a program which responded to the needs of youth through a curricula of goal setting skills and stimulating hands-on math and science activities, coupled with drug demand reduction.

The very first program was funded with a grant from the Kellogg Foundation, establishing a pilot program at Selfridge.  After a year of classes, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, responding to a letter of support from Lieutenant General John Conway, Commander of the Air National Guard, sought the additional support from Georgia Senator Sam Nunn.    In the summer of 1992, Senators Levin and Nunn presented the STARBASE program to Congress for funding under the Department of Defense budget.  In October of the same year, President George H. Bush signed a bill into law making funding available for the next seven years. 

STARBASE Robins was the 18th STARBASE to begin operations with its inaugural classes in 1996.  It is one of numerous civil-military cooperation initiatives approved by Major General Robert A. McIntosh, United States Air Force, Chief of Air Force Reserve.

Since its beginning, STARBASE Robins has graduated over 9,000 students from its programs, which includes the STARBASE Academies, summer Computer & Science Academies and its first ever Robotics Academy in July of 2003 and Summer Annual Teacher Academy.

Accomplishments

• Since program implementation in June of 1996, 8,000 students have graduated with average scores increasing from 46% pretest to 82% posttest on the material presented in the program.
• Selected as one of 50 outstanding "Teaching Examples" in the United States featured at the Presiden'ts Summit for America's Future held in Philadelphia April 27-29, 1997.
• Earned special recognition award in the Air Force Commander-in-Chief's Installation Excellence program in 1997.
• Over three hundred student academies have been completed, serving three school districts: Bibb, Houston and Twiggs
• Partnership grants with the Bank of America and Wal-Mart, Incorporated.