STEM-focused education center opens at Hill Aerospace Museum
By Mitch Shaw, Hilltop Times correspondent
/ Published April 29, 2016
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Larry Henkles, Aerospace Center for Education coordinator, demonstrates to Tristen and Gabe Cassidy, great-grandchildren of the late Lt. Gen. Marc C. Reynolds, how static electricity works at the newly opened Lieutenant General Marc C. Reynolds Aerospace Center for Education April 27, 2016. The Reynolds Aerospace Center for Education, located at the Hill Aerospace Museum, is partnering with local school districts providing additional co-curricular educational opportunities with elementary aged school children. Starting in the fall of 2016, additional children will visit the Hill Aerospace Museum and participate in hands-on activities that correspond directly with the Science curriculum of their particular grade. (U.S. Air Force photo by Todd Cromar)
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Faeya Chatlin admires a photo of her late great-grandfather Lt. Gen. Marc C. Reynolds, at the newly opened Lieutenant General Marc C. Reynolds Aerospace Center for Education at Hill Air Force Base, April 27, 2016. The Reynolds Aerospace Center for Education, located at the Hill Aerospace Museum, is partnering with local school districts providing additional co-curricular educational opportunities with elementary aged school children. Starting in the fall of 2016, additional children will visit the Hill Aerospace Museum and participate in hands-on activities that correspond directly with the Science curriculum of their particular grade. (U.S. Air Force photo by Todd Cromar)
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Col. Ron Jolly, 75th Air Base Wing commander, and Ellie Reynolds, spouse of the late Lt. Gen. Marc C. Reynolds, cut the ribbon opening the newly constructed Lieutenant General Marc C. Reynolds Aerospace Center for Education April 27 at the Hill Aerospace Museum. The naming of the Lieutenant General Marc C. Reynolds Aerospace Center of Education recognizes an individual who served as Board Chair of the Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Utah for more than twenty years. (U.S. Air Force photo by Todd Cromar)
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From the left, Avery Olsen, Gabe Cassidy and Tristen Cassidy, great-grandchildren of the late Lt. Gen. Marc C. Reynolds, experience electricity following the dedication ceremony for the newly constructed Lieutenant General Marc C. Reynolds Aerospace Center for Education April 27 at the Hill Aerospace Museum. The mission of the Reynolds Aerospace Center for Education is to bolster area youth by promoting interest in STEM Education. The ACE experience enhances and inspires more than 60,000 K-12 students each year as they are exposed to STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). This experience allows them to be better versed in the possible educational opportunities in their future. (U.S. Air Force photo by Todd Cromar)
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Larry Henkles, Aerospace Center for Education coordinator, demonstrates how static electricity works at the newly opened Lieutenant General Marc C. Reynolds Aerospace Center for Education April 27, 2016. The Reynolds Aerospace Center for Education, located at the Hill Aerospace Museum, is partnering with local school districts providing additional co-curricular educational opportunities with elementary aged school children. Starting in the fall of 2016, additional children will visit the Hill Aerospace Museum and participate in hands-on activities that correspond directly with the Science curriculum of their particular grade. (U.S. Air Force photo by Todd Cromar)
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah --
Officials from the Hill Aerospace Museum are hoping a "hands-on" classroom, which will eventually feature learning space inside of a real C-130 Hercules, will turn Top of Utah kids onto STEM.
The museum's new Marc C. Reynolds Aerospace Center for Education will be unveiled at 3 p.m. Wednesday, marking the completion of a six-month construction project that provides a permanent space for northern Utah school children to learn about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math through the lens of flight.
Robb Alexander, executive director of Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Utah, said the public is welcome to the unveiling ceremony. The museum is located at 7961 Wardleigh Road, just east of the 5600 South freeway interchange in Roy.
Alexander said the center -- named after Reynolds, a former commander of Hill's Ogden Air Logistics Center -- will provide elementary students with activities and programs that correspond to the STEM curriculum taught in Utah schools.
Using museum assets as learning tools, the center will teach kids about aerodynamics, astronautics, flight simulation, propulsion and structures and materials, Alexander said. This summer, an aviation camp will be held at the center, a four-day crash course on aviation science and fundamentals.
The new facility features two floors with three large classrooms, a rocket ship elevator and a miniature air traffic control tower that will also serve as a learning space. Eventually, an old C-130 that's been at the museum for more than a decade will be permanently parked just outside the center, also serving as learning space.
Alexander said the Heritage Foundation is also working with Ogden, Weber and Davis School districts for some more formal partnerships between local schools and the new center.
Aaron Clark, director of the museum, said pilots from Hill will also participate in the program.
"We're really just getting started with this," Alexander said. "But we feel like we can do some great things. This is going to be a very hands-on experience where kids can learn (about STEM) in a completely unique way."
The center cost about $650,000 to build. Aside from a $100,000 appropriation from the Utah State Legislature, the facility was funded by private donors. The facility was built by Kier Construction and Ogden-area architect Ray Bertoldi designed the center free of charge.