Tom Simmons This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. www.stateportpilot.com

   www.stateportpilot.com/stories - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/15/2007   Last Visited: 3/15/2007

   And that's exactly the reaction Tom Simmons, East Coast deputy director of North Carolina STARBASE, a hands-on math and science program, hoped for.
   
   Last week, Simmons and a team of former teachers led fifth-graders at Southport Elementary through a weeklong journey into the world of aviation, teaching physics, aeronautics and technology along the way.
   
   What started with the deafening whirl of propellers from a Blackhawk helicopter flown in from the Air National Guard base in Salisbury last Monday ended Friday with the high-pitched squeal of rocket launches and the excited cries from students like Johnson as they watched their creations soar hundreds of feet into the air.
   
   "I love science better than any subject," Johnson said. "But math has always been pretty boring to me."
   
   Hopefully not anymore, Simmons said.
   
   STARBASE, a National Guard program funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, is designed to turn once boring or difficult subjects into exciting real-life career opportunities for fifth-graders.
   
   "You can see the excitement grow through this program," Simmons said Friday. "It makes you feel good when a student comes up to you and says, ,I always thought physics was hard, but I think I'm going to take physics when I get to high school,' or ,I want to do better in science and math because I want to fly a helicopter one day,'" he said.
   
   Part of the reason for their enthusiasm, Simmons added, was, through STARBASE, which is offered as a free service to public elementary schools, students realize that science and math can actually be fun.
   ...
   Since their rockets were packed with "secret" extra ammunition, Simmons used the high-soaring PVC-pipe missiles to teach students one last lesson.
   
   "Remember what Dr. Newton said? An object's acceleration is affected by mass. And teachers have a lot more mass than you," he said.
   
   It might have been a soft jab at teachers' weights, but Simmons said it was also an important discovery opportunity, one of many throughout the week.
   
   "I like for students to figure out an answer for themselves. If you tell students the answer, that's all they're going to learn. If you give them the information to figure out the answer, they're going to really understand," he said.

2. 2. Skyrockets in flight

   www.stateportpilot.com/stories - [Cached]

   Published on: 12/8/2005   Last Visited: 12/8/2005

   Tom Simmons, deputy director for Starbase at Fort Fisher, and five other Starbase personnel helped students prepare their mini launch pads and rockets for flight.