aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org | MARCH 2020 | 53Attendees at the 2020 AIAA SciTech
Forum got to see the next generation of
aerospace leaders in action at the HUB
in the Exposition Hall when 20 middle
school students from The Weiss School
presented the latest on their Wolverine
CubeSat Development Team.
I t ’s a great example of AIAA mem-
bers mentoring students to introduce
them to the vibrant fi eld of aerospace
from both a technical and public
policy perspective. Kevin L. Simmons,
founder of BLUECUBE Aerospace, a
science educator at The Weiss School,
and a member of the AIAA Palm Beach
Section, and Shawna Christenson, the
section’s K-12 STEM Outreach offi cer,
brought the students to AIAA SciTech.
The Weiss School also has a Public
Policy Team that works directly with
Congressman Brian Mast (R-FL), who
recently reintroduced House Resolution
85, entitled "Wolverine CubeSats in Edu-
cation." HR 85 aims to promote the use of
CubeSats for educating the next-genera-
tion STEM workforce. Christenson led the
students as they wrote the fi rst draft of
the language that became the resolution.
Some of these students are expected to
attend AIAA Congressional Visits Day in
March, said Simmons, who won the 2017
Educator Achievement Award.
Simmons, ksimmons@bluecubesat.
com, recommends that AIAA sectionsfi nd educators in their area that will
actively partner. “The best I can do as
an educator is to create opportunities
for my students to work with the very
professionals that they want to emu-
late and eventually become. We also
formed an AIAA high school section,
and now have a joint annual banquet
together with the students and profes-
sional members.”
For more information about how
to become involved with AIAA’s educa-
tional outreach, please visit aiaa.org/
get-involved or contact Merrie Scott,
[email protected].Middle Schoolers Impress
with CubeSat Know-How
AIAA Palm Beach Section works with 5th-8th grade students