STARBASE ROBINS

THE DIRECTOR'S CORNER

I am wishing everyone a blessed Holiday, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! This has been a very taxing year, but the STARBASE ROBINS family found a way to make it a great year for the students we serve. We look forward to 2022 and the many STEM opportunities that will come our way.

STARBASE ROBINS 2.0 Teams had the opportunity to compete in the Georgia Tech First LEGO League (FLL) Tournaments hosted by Middle Georgia State University and Peach County High School. We are pleased to announce that Byron Middle School, Northside Middle School, and Warner Robins Middle School will all be advancing to the Super Regional First LEGO League Tournament. A big thank you to all STARBASE 2.0 sponsoring teachers, coordinator/facilitators, and the students for all your hard-work this semester. We are looking forward to students returning for the second semester.

Lt. General & Mrs. Miller visited Robins Air Force Base and the Museum of Aviation. Mrs. Miller is a former employee of STARBASE Hill Air Force Base in Utah. During Mrs. Miller's visit to STARBASE ROBINS, she received an overview of our program and met with the 5th grade students and teachers. Mrs. Miller thank you for touring STARBASE ROBINS and engaging with our staff and students.

STARBASE 2.0 Teacher Spotlight

Each month, STARBASE ROBINS will spotlight a sponsoring teacher in our Afterschool Club. In this edition of our newsletter, we spotlight Melissa Zeuner. Melissa Zeuner is a graduate of Warner Robins High School. She has been teaching Engineering and Technology at Warner Robins Middle School for 20 years. Mrs. Zeuner currently serves as the sponsoring teacher for the STARBASE 2.0 Afterschool Club at WRMS. Each year with the help of committed mentors, she has been able to send two teams to compete in the First LEGO League Tournament. The highlights of her career is having both teams placed 1st and 2nd in the State Competition. Mrs. Zeuner is a great asset to our 2.0 program. After the 2022 school year, she is looking forward to retirement, taking more motorcycle trips and spending time with her grandchildren. To read the full article click the link below.

The students at Kings Chapel Elementary in Houston County and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Elementary in Bibb County had the opportunity to participate in a Virtual Class Chat with an Amazon Professional. This experience is made possible through Amazon's Future Engineer Program. Students were able to interact real time with a Live Amazon Professional, hear their personal stories about working in a STEM career and had the opportunity to ask questions. We are grateful that our classes were selected to participate in this incredible opportunity. Class chats are free, live, interactive and available to everyone. Click on the link to learn more information. https://www.amazonfutureengineer.com/classchats

A big thank you to our Amazon Class Chat Volunteers for speaking to our classes!

Top picture - Derek Chen-Becker - Senior Software Development Engineer

Bottom left - Raman Yousefi - Business Development Manager for Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Middle - Katie Levesque - Senior Account Manager

Bottom right - Kate Mccullough - Sr. Account Executive for AWS

Not pictured - Khayla Williams - System Development Engineer for AWS

Traveling with a Purpose

STARBASE Instructors Demetria Smith and Zeineb Yousif had the opportunity to attend two professional development opportunities in Astoria and Portland Oregon. The first professional development learning opportunity in Astoria Oregon was all about STARBITS. During this training, our instructors learn how to build circuit kits and discuss the importance of teaching students the flow of electricity through circuitry. The second professional development learning opportunity in Portland Oregon focused on transitioning students from paper and pencil journals to iPads. Mrs. Smith and Ms. Yousif are both thankful for the opportunity to interact with other instructors from STARBASE sites. To read the full article click link below.