Mission Manor students takeoff to Starbase a go, thanks to county

The board voted 4-1 Tuesday to help send the students to the Starbase Program, a U.S. Department of Defense initiative that teaches fifth-grade students STEM concepts and allows them to work on projects that help augment their classroom lessons.

STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The program was founded in 1989, according to the Defense Department’s website.

The county will give Mission Manor, in the Sunnyside Unified School District, $2,960 to pay for transportation costs, allowing the school to overcome the main obstacle that would have prevented the students from attending.

“Our field trip money is very limited,” said Mission Manor Principal Cindy Islas.

Supervisor Ally Miller voted against the measure, saying it wasn’t a good use of the county’s contingency funds, which are usually set aside for emergencies and other unexpected expenses.

County officials proposed the allocation after Mission Manor counselor Darla Bice approached Supervisor Richard Elías while he was attending an event at the school.

Bice sought advice from Elías, who encouraged her to write a letter to his office.

“There’s been a lot of focus on this school, which was having a lot of trouble,” he said. “But they’re great kids, and they’re doing better.”

The school’s fifth-graders will go to D-M for five all-day sessions, beginning next week and ending in March, Islas said.

Starbase will introduce the students to physics, chemistry, computer-aided design and science-related areas of engineering and math.

“It brings it alive for students, so they can see the relevancy in what they’re learning,” Islas said. “They can see how math is not just a separate subject.”

Projects will likely include building a rocket, mapping and navigating on the military base, and other tasks that emphasize data analysis, robotics and the relationships between numbers.

The students will finish the program with a community-service project that’s yet to be determined.

School officials hope the program will guide some of the students toward potential careers.

“It’s a great opportunity for the kids to see what’s out there,” teacher Matthew Wesner said. “It may spark one idea in their head, maybe give them a direct path to what they want to study.”