The Bossier Parish School Board is once again dedicating money to bail out the federal STARBASE program at Barksdale Air Force Base, this time due to the government shutdown.
STARBASE is a Defense Department program at military bases across the country designed “to expose our nation’s youth to the technological environments and positive civilian and military role models found on active, guard, and reserve military bases and installations,” according to its mission statement.
At Barksdale Air Force Base, there are programs for age blocks starting at fifth-grade, centered on STEM education, their website says. All Bossier elementary schools participate in the fifth-grade program, which involves five days of instruction and hands-on activities at the base. The STARBASE Advanced program for older students includes activities like building carbon dioxide-powered dragsters using CAD software, designing efficient wind turbines, programming a robotic arm, and more…