2014 ANNUAL REPORT CHALLENGER CENTER - 2014 1 Contents 4 5 7 9 11 A MESSAGE FROM GRAND OPENING EDUCATION GLOBAL SPECIAL THE LEADERSHIP OF THE NEXT UPDATES CHALLENGER EVENTS GENERATION LEARNING CHALLENGER CENTERS LEARNING CENTER 15 18 21 FINANCIALS 2014 DONORS LEADERSHIP AND STAFF CHALLENGER CENTER - 2014 CHALLENGER CENTER - 2014 1 2 What a year! From the time we flipped our calendars over to January 2014 to the moment our Centers flew their last missions in December, the strength of Challenger Center continued to reveal itself in truly magnificent ways. In just one year, we released two new standards-aligned simulated missions, opened two new Challenger Learning Centers, hosted unique special events to celebrate space exploration including numerous screenings of the hit film Interstellar, and made significant progress on a national research and development program to expand our reach into the classroom. We’re proud that this represents just a snapshot of our many successes from 2014. One of our most significant accomplishments was the opening of the Challenger Learning Center at the Scobee Education Center on the campus of San Antonio College. Opening a new Center is a huge undertaking for the staff and the community behind the Center. Together, we are all positively impacting more students as we expand our footprint across America and abroad. The Center at the Scobee Education Center marks the launch of our next generation simulated learning experience. Its new design offers students the environment to explore and learn with technology that meets their expectations. With every Center we open, mission we fly, and program we develop, our team is thoughtful to the Challenger Center mission and vision that was created nearly three decades ago and is still critical today. Never before have there been so many discussions about the importance of STEM education in America. The U.S. continues to struggle in motivating young people to pursue STEM careers solely through traditional classroom learning, yet employment projections continue to confirm the need for math and science skills as STEM careers are among the fastest growing occupations in our economy. Immersive experiences, like our Challenger Center missions, are a proven model for student- centered learning that positively impacts innovation and workforce development. We continue to create a pipeline of critical thinking, problem solving, and science literate individuals equipped to find success and lead our nation. Our student alumni understand the importance of communication, collaboration and teamwork in sustaining and growing our economy. It is MESSAGE our responsibility to ensure they are ready for their future role as innovators and leaders. The entire Challenger Center team takes great pride in the work we do to instill confidence in children so they will experience a promising tomorrow. A special thanks to you, our partners, for FROM THE helping us prepare current and future generations for success. LEADERSHIP CHALLENGER CENTER - 2014 CHALLENGER CENTER - 2014 3 June Scobee Rodgers, Ph.D. Gwen Griffin Lance Bush, Ph.D. 4 Founding Chair Chairman, Board of Directors President and CEO On October 31, Challenger Center celebrated the official grand opening of our next generation Challenger Learning Center. The Challenger Learning Center at the Scobee Education Center, above each work station display emergency alerts and videos located on the campus of San Antonio College, opened its doors throughout the sequence, providing additional engagement and to congressmen, community members, astronauts, corporate interactivity. Mission Control now resembles what current partners, educators, students, and more during a celebration of Mission Control rooms look like with collaborative work stations, CHALLENGER the state-of-the-art facility. large high-definition screens to enhance the visual experience, and computer monitors that drop down into the tables to allow The Center has quickly become Challenger Center’s flagship facility for more flexibility in the work space. as it is the first newly designed Center since the organization was CENTER OF THE founded nearly 30 years ago. The new Center features a futuristic The Center is part of the Scobee Education Center, a state-of- look and a more functional design while incorporating the best the-art 22,000 square foot facility combining the school’s parts of the organization’s original Challenger Learning Center. A planetarium with the new Challenger Learning Center. The revamped open floor model gives students more room to work completed Scobee Education Center is named in honor of FUTURE together in the Space Station. Each student has the chance to Challenger Space Shuttle Commander Dick Scobee and his widow Opens In San Antonio interact with hands-on labs during the mission. Large monitors June Scobee Rodgers, who attended the college together. “We have always been a futuristic thinking organization and it was time to push the boundaries again with a new look and an experience that will exhilarate the minds of the students.” – Lance Bush, President and CEO, Challenger Center CHALLENGER CENTER - 2014 CHALLENGER CENTER - 2014 5 6 TWO NEW MISSIONS LAUNCH at Challenger Center Fast forward to a future solar max – a time when the greatest solar activity in the 11-year cycle of the sun takes place. A major coronal mass ejection occurred just four weeks ago, with a burst of solar winds blasting from the sun toward Earth. The threat caused an immediate evacuation of the Space Station to ensure the safety of astronauts in low Earth orbit. What if it was your job to keep the crew safe and repair the critical satellite that was damaged? Or, maybe it is the not too distant future when there are permanent habitats on the Moon, habitats where astronauts and scientists are conducting research and studying the planets beyond. In order to expand that research, additional environments have to be created and new mining locations have to be identified. Imagine that you are part of the team helping to expand, and you were tasked with making decisions that impact the success of the mission along with the health and safety of the crew? What would you do? Students now have the opportunity to experience these two scenarios at our Challenger Learning Centers. In 2014, the development and launch of Earth Odyssey and Lunar Quest were completed. Earth Odyssey challenges students to use How is Challenger Center Addressing the their location in space and the instruments on the Space Station to observe the Earth and its changes and utilize a small Global Need for Stronger STEM Education? manufacturing facility on the Space Station to create a new micro satellite to replace the one lost in the coronal mass As STEM-based jobs outnumber most other fields and industry experts continue to emphasize the importance of every ejection. Students taking part in Lunar Quest have the opportunity to observe the Earth, Sun and beyond as they student having a basic understanding of STEM subjects, Challenger Center is also working to address this need and further navigate the Spacecraft to the Moon to select sites for future lunar mining and ensure the crew stays healthy and safe support STEM education efforts around the globe. As a result, the organization made a commitment to identify the best way to expand our reach into the classroom. This kind of expansion, if proven effective and impactful, would allow all for the duration of the mission. students access to the Challenger Center learning experience regardless of their geographic proximity to a Center. Through both project-and problem-based learning, students taking part in these two missions have to complete tasks to Working with the Department of Education, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the University of Virginia, three Virginia school districts, and our Richmond-based Challenger Learning Center, significant progress was ensure success. At the same time, they may encounter emergencies or unexpected problems that require critical thinking made on a research and development program that will identify a potential solution to this need. To do this, Challenger and decision-making skills to find resolutions. Each student plays a part in the mission, interacts with hands-on labs and Center must transfer the current Center-based simulation technology into a new delivery engine with enhanced digital is responsible for finishing several tasks. Teamwork is crucial because if one member of the class fails to complete his or tools and embedded assessment features. The development and implementation of this research program will take place over four years. her job, the entire mission may be at risk. In addition to identifying the best way to deliver the experience to the students, the program team began to outline Both Earth Odyssey and Lunar Quest feature up-to-date data from partners NASA and NOAA and include new, the storyline of the experience. This classroom-based mission will take fifth grade students to the bottom of the ocean standards-aligned content. In addition, for the first time Challenger Center missions can be customized to allow for to explore why the Hawaiian monk seal population is declining. From a virtual underwater research station and submarine, student teams will research the question from different areas of study, such as marine biology, adaptations based on the needs and educational levels of the class visiting the Center. New digital mission and data oceanography, meteorology and geology. The week-long experience will include two preparation days focused on logs provide teachers with a level of assessment for post-mission review and to help continue the experience in the introducing students to the overall mission, along with ocean and environmental sciences, before beginning the simulation. classroom. Teachers can walk away with a digital copy of the information students inputted during the mission to gain a CHALLENGER CENTER - 2014 better understanding of strengths and weakness of that particular class.