Dep. Sec. Jabs visits Winchester STARBASE Academy - Sept. 23, 2020

Virginia Deputy Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs Kathleen Jabs and Virginia Department of Military Affairs Chief Operations Officer Walt Mercer visit students taking part in activities at the Winchester STARBASE Academy Sept. 23, 2020, at the Virginia National Guard's Cherry-Beasley Readiness Center in Winchester, Virginia. During the visit, students took part in lessons on computer aided design, density and buoyancy, and creating and building molecular models. Before COVID-19 closed schools in March 2020, the program supported 11 area schools from three public school districts, and over 900 students in 45 classes participated in the 5-day program during the School Year 2019-2020. For the beginning of this current school year, smaller sized classes and fewer classes will attend the full program in order to support social distancing guidelines.

STARBASE is Congressionally authorized as Department of Defense Civil Military Program, and licensed STARBASE instructors provide 25 hours in a week of hands-on, rigorous and real-world experiences in a high-tech environment. The goal is to inspire and educate students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and expand their awareness of future STEM careers while providing a model and vision for STEM education to local school districts and educators. Students are exposed to the technological environments and positive civilian and military role models and are immersed in a unique classroom experience where all activities are student-centered, hands-on, encourage higher order thinking and incorporate STEM applications in the real world.

Learn more at www.starbasewinchester.com.