American Dynasty

     And just like that, the summer was gone.  The starships at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center did their duty ferrying hundreds of 10 to 15 year olds on adventures from one sphere of space time to another, across the vast galactic realms, facing nearly impossible adversaries brought to life in living color by the talented staff and volunteers.      Tradition calls for the gathering of tribes to celebrate the season's achievements. And so the call went forth calling all chieftains and clans to the gathering place to honor those who found glory in story and to say farewell to others who heard the siren's call and set sail into the ocean of possibilities.  Shall we begin? Honors Night: The Clans Gather                   The call to assemble came shortly after 7:00 P.M. by Chieftain Porter.  Most clansman sat with their kin. The log nearest the fire was by tradition held for the elders, n...

My first sixth grade class.  These Youngsters are around 51 years old this year         Has it been 40 years?  Where has the time gone?  My 40th sixth grade class appeared on my classroom doorstep last Tuesday.  There are 93 of them. They arrived dressed in their school uniforms and ready to learn.  I'll teach all of them math and half of them history (the non-Chinese DLI students). Learning about the middle ages.  1983-1984      I started my career in 1983 at Central Elementary School in Pleasant Grove, the same school where I student taught the school year before with Mr. Mike Thompson.  I was assigned to student teach in Springville but BYU made a clerical error and assigned two teachers to that position.  They called me in and asked if I'd be willing to switch to Central School in Pleasant Grove.  It was my choice. I decided to go with Central.  The rest is history.  Recording a Reader's Theate...

  August 6, 2022       My new mission Apollo Rising was told for the first time to the public on August 6. It joins the Space EdVenture's mission library along with my other missions currently being told at various space centers:  Intolerance, Children of Perikoi, Cry in the Dark, Canada, Fugitive, Supernova, Midnight Rescue, etc.  Apollo Rising was previously flown the day before to The Space Place's staff and volunteers.  Bracken Funk and I ran the test mission on the Friday.  Bracken Funk ran the mission on Saturday to the public group.  The mission went flawlessly, which is unusual for the first couple tellings of a new mission.              The First Public Group to do Apollo Rising            Of course I'd like to tell you about the mission but considering some of you may fly the mission on the Starship Voyager in the future, I'll not way a word.  Suffice to say...

       Senior Flight Directors, staff, and abnormally long term volunteers whose service to the Space Center was considered exemplary, are eligible for post Space Center service care in The Gone Boldly Treatment Center for Retired Space Center Staff.  GBTC offers both outpatient and inpatient care.                    Residential services are reserved for those who find themselves confused, bewildered, challenged by reality, and most importantly - unreliable in the bathroom (brought on by holding it too long during prolonged battle scenes or elongated, multi character narratives - where the flight director engages in conversations with himself as another character; which introduces us to another common Flight Director malady - schizophrenia). Natalie and Conner      Joining the current long term residents are Natalie Anderson and Connor Larsen, both of whom retired from Space Center service this las...