Ind. School Receives CAP Aerospace Education Grant

Quality class time

Madison STEAM Academy classes like this one will benefit from the Aerospace Education Outreach Program grant from CAP’s Great Lakes Region.

Maj. Bill Vendramin
Director of Public Affairs
Great Lakes Region

The Great Lakes Region recently awarded South Bend Community School Corp.'s Madison STEAM Academy a $4,000 CAP Aerospace Education Outreach Program grant to help .introduce students to aerospace-themed lessons focusing on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) topics, character education and physical fitness.

The CAP grant will enable teachers to provide creative instruction for students, spark interest in aerospace and inspire the next generation’s STEM workforce through engaging and meaningful lessons in the classroom.

Madison is the first K-5 school in the South Bend Community School Corp. to receive funding to incorporate CAP’s Aerospace Connections in Education (ACE) program, which provides grade-specific educational items, curriculum guides and STEM Kts for the classroom.

Twenty-six Madison teachers will receive access to the ACE curriculum, which features 21 aerospace-themed lessons divided into the categories of academics, character and physical fitness.

“We are thrilled and excited for our students and teachers to have access to this fantastic curriculum that will engage them in an active learning environment and enhance their appreciation for aerospace,” said Deb Martin, academy principal.

In addition, Madison students will receive mentoring, resources, information about other STEM-related careers and live demonstrations from the John Adams High School Cadet Squadron.

The CAP grant “provides an excellent opportunity” for his cadets “to establish a mentoring relationship with the students at Madison STEAM Academy through aerospace education,” said the squadron’s commander, Maj. Daniel Walsh.

"This relationship will serve as a model for establishing future relationships with other schools in the South Bend Community School Corp.,” Walsh said.

The partnership will help build relationships and stimulate student interest in aerospace-related STEM careers and create awareness of the CAP cadet opportunities available to them.

During the 2019-20 academic year, the ACE program achieved record numbers nationally, with more than 500 schools, over 76,000 students and almost 1,300 teachers from every state involved.