LAUNCHING DREAMS
Fueling Inspiration for Tomorrow’s Leaders
LAUNCHING MAINE’S FUTURE LEADERS
Twenty years ago, the Challenger Learning Center of Maine opened its doors with a straightforward goal: to enable students to experience the thrill of space exploration in order to ignite a passion for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). We were excited–and just a little nervous–as a group of middle school students from Sebasticook blasted off on our first simulated NASA mission.
At the time, we had an inkling that, over the next two decades, we would go on to serve more than 100,000 students, families, and teachers, from across Maine; but we didn’t fully anticipate just how important encouraging students to pursue STEM skills would become to Maine’s future.
Then, just a small proportion of working Mainers held STEM-related jobs. Today, one-third do–and that share is growing rapidly.
That trend presents an opportunity and a challenge. Opportunity because STEM jobs typically pay better than other kinds of work – even for those without a college degree. The challenge, however, is that there won’t be enough STEM-ready Mainers to fill those positions unless we act now to better prepare our elementary, middle, and high school students for this emerging economy.
With your help we will continue to inspire Maine students to pursue STEM learning and careers for the next twenty years. We are already off to a great start! A once-in-a-generation grant of $2.2 million from NASA is enabling us to install new, state-of-the-art technology so we can continue to offer top-notch programming. And your support for our Launching Dreams campaign will ensure that thousands of Maine students who otherwise would not be able to participate will benefit from this amazing opportunity.
Please join us in working to engage as many students as we can, as soon as we can.
There is no time to waste.
The Challenger Learning Center of Maine has launched a $3.75 million campaign with three mission-critical objectives:
GOAL 01:
Renovate and upgrade our facility to maximize the value of our new state-of-the-art simulation technology for in-person and remote programs, and enhance our school, after-school, and summer programs.
GOAL 02:
Expand scholarships, especially for underserved communities and students from groups underrepresented in STEM.
GOAL 03:
Strengthen our capacity to maintain a center of excellence in order to serve more students, schools, and families with state-of-the-art facilities.
“Challenger Learning Center of Maine offers families and teachers something they can get nowhere else: a chance to immerse kids from across the state in the thrill and wonder of space exploration and to catalyze new ideas about who they can become.”
– Kirsten Hibbard, Executive Director, Challenger Learning Center of Maine
A TIME-TESTED APPROACH
In January 1986, the world watched in horror as the space shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after liftoff. A few months later, the families of the seven Challenger astronauts began discussions that led to the founding of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, an international nonprofit dedicated to continuing the crew’s mission–to learn, to explore, and to inspire.
In 1988, the first Challenger Learning Center opened in Texas. In 2004, the Challenger Learning Center of Maine opened its doors, with students from Sebasticook Valley Middle School “flying” the first simulated mission at our then-new facility in Bangor.
Now, as we celebrate our 20th year, we are proud to serve students from all 16 of Maine’s counties through an array of in-person and remote programs. We’ve deployed sophisticated simulation technology to enable more than 100,000 students from across Maine to play various roles–as engineers, scientists, and astronauts–in planning and executing NASA-themed simulations. They cooperate to complete a perilous mission to Mars, for example, or collect samples from a comet–all while using real scientific equipment and engaging with important STEM concepts.
This approach, known as participatory simulation, was developed to honor those astronauts, including science teacher Christa McAuliffe, who were lost aboard the Challenger shuttle.
More than six million students have now attended one of the 35 Challenger Centers around the world. Countless participants have said the experience inspired them to pursue STEM studies and careers. Research has shown that these fun but substantive activities can aid all students–regardless of their interest in STEM – by nurturing the teamwork, confidence, and curiosity needed to thrive in both school and the workplace.
As Maine’s only Challenger Center celebrates its 20th anniversary, we have a remarkable opportunity to enhance our service to our state.
On Jan. 28, 1986, the seven Challenger crew members lost their lives following an explosion during the launch phase of the STS-51L mission. Crew members are (left to right, front row) astronauts Michael J. Smith, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee and Ronald E. McNair; Ellison S. Onizuka, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis and Judith A. Resnik. McAuliffe and Jarvis are payload specialists, representing the Teacher in Space Project and Hughes Company, respectively.
Photo credit: NASA
A TRANSFORMATIONAL GIFT
Thanks to a transformational gift of $2.18 million from congressionally designated spending through NASA, the Challenger Learning Center of Maine will be one of only five Challenger Centers in the country to provide students the very latest mission simulator technology and equipment.
With your help, new state-of-the-art mission simulator technology is coming to Maine.
