STARBASE Robins offers a hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S.T.E.M.) curriculum to students from local school systems as well as several area private schools. STARBASE Robins is a Department of Defense (DoD) educational program sponsored through a partnership with the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), the Museum of Aviation, and the Museum of Aviation Foundation, Inc. STARBASE Robins emphasizes the importance of goal-setting, teamwork and communication in everyday life.
Our Mission
- Create an exceptional educational and technological center for students and teachers to enjoy learning science and math.
- Engage in activity-based science and math lessons that meet students’ needs to relevance.
- Provide career goal-setting opportunities and information on reaching career goals.
- Encourage parents to become involved with their children’s education.
- Provide experiences where students view complex information from more than one vantage point.
- Foster clear communication and group cooperation in problem solving, critical thinking and decision making.
- Create partnerships with industry, government, school districts, and the military to provide a support system for student and the program.
- Correlate STARBASE curricula with Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) as well as the national science literacy goals as outlined in Benchmarks Projects 2061 and the Common Core Curriculum as each area is implemented.
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 17,500 students from its programs, including the school year program and summer academies. STARBASE Robins produced its first ever Robotics Academy in July of 2003. Training in STEM has also been done through summer Teacher Academies.
Accomplishments
- Since program implementation in June of 1996, almost 17,000 students have graduated from our school year program with average scores increasing from 45% pretest to 71% 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 eight hundred student academies have been completed, serving four school districts: Bibb, Houston, Bleckley, and Twiggs and numerous private schools in the Middle Georgia area.
- Partnership grants with the Bank of America and Wal-Mart, Incorporated and the 2011 NASA Summer of Innovation Building Grant.
- Host for the Georgia FIRST Lego League Robotics Central Georgia Super Regional Qualifier since 2005 and Location host for the Georgia Robotics Invitational Tournament and Showcase (GRITS) for the last few years.