WELCOME TO

STARBASE INDIANA

DoD STARBASE is a premier educational program, sponsored by the Office of the
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. At DoD STARBASE students participate in challenging “hands-on, minds-on” activities in Science, Technology, Engineering & Art/Design, and Mathematics (STEAM). They interact with military personnel to explore careers and observe STEAM applications in the “real world.” The program provides students with 25 hours of stimulating experiences at National Guard, Marine, Air Force Reserve, Army, Air Force, and Space Force bases across the nation. Indiana's STARBASE program provides students with 25 hours of stimulating experiences at military installations in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, South Bend and Gary Indiana.

DoD STARBASE’s primary focus is the program for fifth graders. The goal is to motivate them to explore STEAM opportunities as they continue their education. The program encourages students to set goals and achieve them..

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PROGRAMS

Basic (1.0) PROGRAM

Inspiring Youth

1.0 focuses on elementary students, primarily fifth graders. The goal is to motivate them to explore Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) as they continue their education. The program encourages students to set goals and achieve them.

The program engages students through the inquiry-based curriculum with its “hands-on, minds-on” experiential activities. Each academy chooses a customized curriculum from a large offering of peer-reviewed learning opportunities in each STEAM area, such as: Newton’s Laws and Bernoulli’s principle, robotics, and engineering as they use the computer to design space stations, all-terrain vehicles, and submersibles. Mathematics is embedded throughout the curriculum and students use metric measurement, estimation, calculation geometry, and data analysis to solve questions. Teamwork is stressed as they work together to explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate concepts.

Military volunteers apply abstract principles to real-world situations by leading tours and giving lectures on the use of STEAM in different settings and careers. Since the academies are located in different branches of the military this experience is highly
varied. Students may discuss how chemical fires are extinguished, learn how injured are transported, or explore the cockpit of an F-18 or the interior of a submarine.

The academies work with school districts to support their standards of learning objectives.

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Advanced (2.0) AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM

A Deeper Dive

As with other school-based afterschool mentoring programs, DoD STARBASE Advanced is highly structured and is intended to help support school goals by increasing student interest and knowledge in STEAM, increasing engagement with school, and increasing STEAM career awareness. Individual programs use a variety of different team projects to achieve these goals. STEAM projects include topics like Scalextrics, robotics, rocketry, engineering, physics, FIRST LEGO League, solar cars, chemistry, technology, and aerospace. Mentors play a vital role in the success of the program by serving as successful STEAM professional coaches and role models.

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SUMMER STEM ACADEMIES

Connecting Community and Careers

Our summer camps explore the best of our local community STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) collaborations. We pack these programs with any of the following: computer design, aviation investigations, the science of baseball, robotics programming, or one of our very favorites-rocket launches.

In addition to experiments and rocket launches, we know campers are also building skills in observation, investigation, science, technology, engineering, and math. Not to mention confidence!

See each locations individual page for more information about our summer activities.

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HISTORY

The DoD STARBASE Program first originated in Detroit, Michigan as Project STARS in 1991. The original curriculum focused on exposing youth (4-6 grade) to innovative hands-on activities in science, technology, and mathematics based on the physics of flight. Under the guidance of Brig. Gen. David Arendts, 127th Wing Commander at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, students were invited to Selfridge to participate and witness the application of scientific concepts in a “real world” setting. National Guard personnel demonstrated the use of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology in their fields of expertise and served as role models to the attending students.

In FY 1993, the U.S. Congress appropriated funds for DoD STARBASE and piloted the program in seven states. There are locations spread across the United States and its territories. To accommodate the growing demand for additional STEM programs, a structured after school mentoring program, STARBASE 2.0 (now called STARBASE Advanced), for middle school students was piloted in 2010 at five locations. The program’s success relies on collaboration between the sponsoring military unit and STARBASE Academy, the school district, and local communities. The goal is for each STARBASE Academy to sponsor a STARBASE Advanced program.

"The desire to achieve is won or lost in the mind of the students… but the outcome depends on the judgment, skill and courage of the individuals. I personally guarantee that STARBASE Indiana promotes a plethora of attributes that will do nothing but help our children be successful in all of their endeavors faced while climbing the ladder of success."