Last week between furious gulps of delicious Turkey we threw a spotlight on some of the key educators who have made Dream Flight Adventures possible.  Today we give a shout out to another group of educators:  the visionary administrators who open the doors and pave the way for revolutionary new experiences like this to exist.  These unsung heroes quietly fight the daily battles against ignorance and apathy to ensure that the rising generation has every opportunity to succeed, whether they know it or not.

As with all successful educational experiences, Dream Flight Adventures has been blessed by its fair share of forward-thinking administrators.  Most recently we’ve been working closely with the Shaler Area School District and its Elementary School to build our inaugural simulator:  the Titan.  Let’s peel back the curtain, shall we, and take a closer look at the visionary leaders who have made this possible.

Kara Eckert, Assistant to the Superintendent

I first met Kara Eckert at a curriculum coordinator meeting hosted by the AIU (another one of our awesome partners!).  She expressed how Dream Flight Adventures fit in perfectly with other initiatives the Shaler Area School District was pursuing to give their students a rich and meaningful STEM education.  Not long afterward she invited me to tour the Shaler Area Elementary School, where I was impressed by the bright display of student creativity that lined every square inch of the school’s hallways.  But even more impressive was the way that all the kids seemed to know Kara personally, and she knew them in return!  This was far beyond what I had expected for someone at the Superintendent’s central office, but it underscored Kara’s deep connection with the students, their needs, and the district’s hands-on approach to opening opportunities for them.

Cynthia Foht, Principal of the Shaler Area Elementary School

It wasn’t long before Kara introduced me to the principal of the Shaler Area Elementary School, Ms. Cynthia Foht.  I was impressed by the decisive and thoughtful manner Ms. Foht ran her school.  The challenges facing formal education in today’s environment were immediately evident—Ms. Foht had an enormous swarm of responsibilities surrounding her, calling for her attention, and competing for her time.  Nevertheless, she handled them magnificently, addressing each issue with thorough but efficient care.  She has been consistently conscious of the opportunities and challenges facing our program, and without fail she has opened doors and paved the way for our success.

It is my absolute pleasure to work with these outstanding educators who have established the Shaler Area School District and Elementary School as models for others to follow.  Stay tuned for next time when we pop open the hood and share more details about the Titan and the wonders that await it.

It’s time for another update on the simulator construction.  Since we last joined our heroes a great deal of progress has been made.  The rough framework is now complete!  Platforms have been raised, the doors have been framed, and the half-walls are in place.  But enough talk, here are the pics!

View from outside the ship looking inward

View from behind the Flight Director area looking toward the captain’s seat.

And here’s our illustrious miracle worker—Bob Gasowski!  This amazing specimen of a carpenter was trained in the mines of Kestrel VII, wields a hammer like an Atlantean steelsmith, and packs a wallop like a Fangorian Saberbeast.  He whipped together our ship in a matter of seconds, transforming rough chicken scratch notes into a 36-deck Chameleon-class vessel by sheer force of will.

Behold the power!

In addition to deciphering my cryptic notes and turning them into reality, Bob has made some brilliant enhancements of his own.  For example, the simulator is now 100% wheelchair accessible, thanks to a wee bit of Bob’s design magic.  Those Orion Pirates won’t know what hit them with the invincible Bobby G onboard!

Tech guru extraordinaire

But Bob’s not the only hero on our team:  We have the incredible Bryan O’Black rooting for us as well.  Bryan has wrought many a miracle in he trenches of component procurement, reeling in countless fantastic deals.  The ship will have the shiniest controls and slickest computers in the galaxy, thanks to Bryan’s bargaining.  Bryan tells me that the technology components of the simulator have already begun to arrive, so we’ll be piecing the state-of-the-art quantum computer mainframe into the tritanium hull before you know it.

Stay tuned later this week for a closer look at the ship itself and the amazing teachers bringing the magic together.

Area 418 was quarantined to all civilian personnel by the time the hovercranes arrived.  Hauling massive tritanium beams, they drifted above the construction site and slowly lowered their cargo to the ground.  Crews of workmen and drones scurried beneath, bustling to and fro in a hurry to assemble the craft.  They were all well trained and knew exactly what to do.  The pieces fell into place like clockwork.  Slowly, the form of the ship began to take shape.  It was really happening!

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These are the latest pics from the construction in Room 418.  Bryan O’Black, the Director of Technology at the Shaler Area School District has been hard at work identifying the right tech equipment, while Bob Gasowski has worked tirelessly putting up the foundational framework.  Stay tuned… next time we may have some comments from the lucky Shaler Area Elementary School students themselves.

View from the entrance to Room 418

View from the Captain’s station toward the viewscreen

Stay tuned as the epic construction continues…

The site echoed with the sounds of construction.  Experts from all ends of time and space converged on the scene to lay down the plans that would grow into a Chameleon class ship—the first of its kind for Earth.  Fumes from the welding of alloys filled the halls, laser light glowed through the air, and the form of a ship began to take shape.

In only a few hours, the brilliant and talented Bob Gasowski taped off the simulator plans on the floor.

The transformation of room 418 has begun!

The summer breeze whisked past the shuttle window as it glided over the wooded hilltop.  Admiral Starblayze enjoyed having the windows down, and the Pennsylvania summer air felt good as it flew past.  He crossed the crest of the hill and the Site sprang into view.  There it was, just across the next little dip on the top of a shallow knoll.

“Why there?” he was often asked.  There were plenty of other fine places to build the Launchpad.  Connecting the Earth to a much bigger universe is a momentous occasion,  so why do it from Shaler?  It was far enough way from the Burgh to avoid its with air traffic, but close enough for easy access—but then again, so were a lot of other places.  It had close proximity to open land and lush natural resources, but that too wasn’t unique.

No, the thing that made the site special—that made it right—was the people.  Admiral Starblayze had searched far and wide, but he was hard pressed to find a tighter concentration of young wonder-filled minds with the spark of creativity still burning bright.  In the long run you could build the Launchpad anywhere, but unless you can fill it with sharp thinkers and bold dreamers it wouldn’t do any good.  The Infinity Knights didn’t entrust us with a fleet so we could drop the ball; they expect results, and what better place to start than the Shaler Area?

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 The halls weren’t adorned with the bright color of student projects, and the hard-working teachers weren’t surrounded by young minds on the early August morning when I arrived at the Shaler Area Elementary School to make buildout plans, but the feeling of energetic learning was still there—much as it is when school is in session.  The quiet of the halls belied the energy in room 418 where we measured out the dimensions and discussed our first mission plans.

It’s real.  It’s happening.  It’ll be here soon!