Event To Take Place At Jacksonville, FL School

The Civil Air Patrol will hold a national liftoff celebration for its Aerospace Connections in Education program on October 7 from 9-10 a.m. at the outdoor sports field of San Jose Catholic School, 3619 Toledo Road, Jacksonville, FL.

Planned festivities include the landing of a HSL-46 Squadron Navy Seahawk helicopter, which will be available for student tours; patriotic music; launch of a variety of aerospace vehicles; demonstration of aeronautics by remote-controlled aircraft; a CAP flyover; and a performance by a CAP color guard. The celebration is expected to draw 700 adults and students.

Civil Air Patrol’s Aerospace Connections in Education program is an enrichment program designed to motivate K-6 students through aerospace awareness and careers. Educators are provided with national standards-based materials that can be adapted to fit a wide variety of curriculum. ACE includes three core components -- character education, knowledge of aerospace and related career opportunities and physical fitness.

"The Aerospace Connections in Education program is designed to spark the limitless imaginations of younger students, promoting a lifelong love of learning while introducing students to aerospace-related careers," said CAP National Commander Maj. Gen. Amy S. Courter. "Through ACE, we hope to inspire the next generation of great scientists, engineers and aerospace pioneers. We also want to promote positive character traits that will help them be better students, friends and citizens."

Nationwide, approximately 350 teachers -- all CAP Aerospace Education Members -- and 7,500 students are participating in the program at 29 sites, including public, private, parochial, home, and Department of Defense schools in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington.

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the US Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 56,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 90 percent of continental US inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 103 lives in fiscal year 2007.

FMI: www.cap.gov