Goodfellow celebrates one year of STARBASE

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Joshua Edwards
  • 17th Training Wing Public Affairs
GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Goodfellow celebrated the one-year anniversary of the STARBASE program at the STARBASE facility Oct. 10.

“The one-year anniversary of any project like this needs to be celebrated and also evaluated,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Civic Leader Group Member, Dr. Carol Ann Bonds. “You want to do anything, from little to big, better the next year, so they’ve done that. It needs to be celebrated, because no schools have pulled out and that says a lot.”

Since it opened on Sept. 25, 2017, STARBASE has graduated 1,615 students from the San Angelo Independent School District.

“STARBASE has helped San Angelo ISD in multiple ways,” said San Angelo ISD Superintendent, Dr. Carl Dethloff. “Just the number of kids that go through here, helps them with their learner attributes that we all want for jobs in the future. It really gets kids ready for academic achievement and success in schools.”

STARBASE is a program that focuses on educating fifth graders, with a goal of motivating students to explore science, technology, engineering and math fields as they continue their education.

“What it is for us and our kids is access to the base to really continue to develop their STEM skills,” said Dethloff. “It really models career pathways too. It gives kids another option, another choice whether they are going into higher education, workforce, trades or military.”

We need to take those mathematical concepts that we are learning in the school house and apply them to a science-technology-engineering base for competition in the global market place, so that our kids have the skillset to compete with others. We are somewhat geographically isolated in West Texas and STARBASE provides us with the resources and the experts here on base.”

To help ensure the success of the program, Goodfellow provides a facility with staff and service members to help teach the children.

“STARBASE has many benefits and one is that we take young children that are smart enough to understand and follow directions and learn about cause and effect and whetting their appetite to someday go into a STEM related vocation,” said Bonds. “We are also helping these young people when they come on this base to see that the people who are walking around the grounds in uniforms are serving our country. Hopefully, many of them will choose that as a route and will want to serve their country.”

For more information about STARBASE, visit their website at www.starbasegoodfellow.org, email them at starbaseoffice@samfa.org or call 325-654-4740.