By Sarah Stephens
Elmore Autauga News
Due to a continuing resolution for U.S. government funding to avoid a shutdown, a local program is in danger of shutting its doors.
STARBASE Maxwell, which was created in 2004 on Maxwell Air Force Base, is a STEM education awareness and outreach program. It focuses primarily on fifth graders in both public, private and homeschool education across the River Region, including Autauga and Elmore counties.
Retired Air Force Colonel Ted Welch is the director of the STARBASE Maxwell Academy and has put out an urgent call for residents to contact Senators Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville in an effort to sustain funding for the program. At the moment, there is enough funding to keep the doors open through Feb. 7, according to Welch.
There are 90 STARBASE programs throughout the world, and STARBASE Maxwell is the only program in Alabama. It is also the biggest of all the programs worldwide.
Welch said that annual funding for this program is not guaranteed from year to year but is instead a line item annually. Each year the House and Senate work on funding numbers. There was a disagreement in funding needed this year, to go along with a continuing resolution to keep government projects operational.
The House of Representatives proposed a budget of $60 million, while the Senate approved $20 million, half of what was funded last year. With a continuing resolution, funding would normally fall back to the previous year’s budget, Welch said. However, this year is different, but Welch said they were not aware of that until an announcement last week.
“We learned last week that the budget folks were told to go with the conservative amount of $20 million,” Welch said.
“We are hoping to get our senators to realize that $20 million is not enough,” Welch told the EAN.
STARBASE Maxwell officials and teachers are reaching out to the public asking them to contact Senator Katie Britt and Senator Tommy Tuberville, to ask for them to work towards a resolution that would include the expected $40 funding.
Welch said there is an ongoing effort to find funding through agencies such as the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce.
“We need funding to keep the doors open,” he said.
He said last year alone, STARBASE Maxwell impacted 3,200 kids in our area, with a projected 4,000 to take part in educational programs this year. Programs are offered through a normal school year and also include summer programs.
The programs offer 25 hours of hands-on experience with robots, rockets, computer science and electrical science themed programs. It is held on base at Maxwell. The students come from diverse backgrounds to include those that have been underrepresented in STEM career fields or low socioeconomic populations who may not otherwise have access to STEM opportunities.
STARBASE Maxwell includes purpose-built facilities/learning process. This includes highly interactive classrooms designed to facilitate hands-on learning concepts coupled with an engaging instructor cadre, with 184 years combined teaching experience. The program utilizes team teaching techniques making learning dynamic while modeling their students on how teams can effectively work together.
STARBASE Maxwell is a collaborative effort between the Department of Defense (D0D), 42d Air Base Wing, Montgomery Education Foundation, local schools and River Region Community Partners.
Contact information for Senators
Share Your Opinion – Senator Katie Britt
https://www.tuberville.senate.gov/contact-old/contact-form
To learn more about the STARBASE Maxwell program, visit www.starbasemaxwell.org
If you are interested in preserving the STARBASE Maxwell program, below is a suggested letter to send to the Senators.
