MAXWELL AFB, Ala. — The 2004 National Congress on Aviation and Space Education in Atlanta will include special programs for homeschooling parents and students.

The conference traditionally gives educators the latest news and techniques for teaching a variety of subjects using aerospace themes and hands-on activities. For the first time, at next year’s conference, NCASE also will include aerospace activities onsite for the children of homeschooling parents who want to attend. While parents attend the teaching and lecture sessions, children from grades K-12, when accompanied by an adult, can take part in special activities using model airplanes, rockets and hot air balloons, as well as experiments that demonstrate the principles of aviation and space flight.

The conference, scheduled for March 24 – 27, 2004 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, is sponsored each year by Civil Air Patrol.

"For years, child development specialists have told us that students learn better and retain information longer when they’re taught through demonstrations and hands-on activities," said Al Allenback, CAP’s executive director. “Aerospace and aviation principles give teachers and homeschooling parents the perfect starting place for such hands-on activities and can be applied to subjects ranging from science and math to social studies and language arts. In our experience, students are fascinated with flying and space travel and respond enthusiastically to lessons that revolve around these themes.”

Civil Air Patrol produces classroom materials as well as low-cost textbooks that are used by teachers and homeschoolers throughout the nation. Parents can examine these materials during the conference, as well as those from the many educators offering teach-the-teacher sessions in their particular subject areas.

“The parents who attend NCASE in 2004 will come home with a suitcase full of exciting and practical classroom ideas,” said Judy Rice, CAP deputy director of aerospace education. “We’ve found aerospace education to be a great way to motivate the reluctant student and an equally effective way to challenge the student who already excels.”

There will be no additional charge for students to attend NCASE when accompanied by a parent who is registered for the conference. The registration fee is only $99 for the three-day event,

Among the speakers at the conference will be Jim Voss, former International Space Station crewmember and currently associate dean of engineering for external affairs at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala.; National Teacher of the Year Dr. Betsy Rogers; Ken Blackburn, world-record holder for paper airplane sustained flight; and Gus McLeod, who recently completed the first flight around the world in an open cockpit plane.

Joe Edwards of the National Science Center and Anthony Fowler of the U.S. Dept. of Education’s “No Child Left Behind” initiative will also speak during the conference. Attendees can also hear representatives of the Tuskegee Airmen and Women Air Force Service Pilots, and enjoy tours of Lockheed, Delta Airlines and the SciTrek Museum.

The conference is rated for 30 contract hours of continuing education credit and has also been certified for one to three SDUs/CEUs through the Georgia Youth Science and Technology Center.

For more information about the conference, and to register online, go to http://www.cap.gov/events.

CAP is a nonprofit organization with more than 64,000 members nationwide. It performs 95% of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. Volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members take a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the almost 27,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 60 years.