More Photos from SCIVIS

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AL.com has a few photos from last night’s SCIVIS 2013 graduation.

Check them out here!

Amongst the highlights from last night, acclaimed Rocket Boys author and newly appointed Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission member, Homer Hickam was on hand to speak at the graduation ceremony.

Congratulations to all of the SCIVIS 2013 graduates, all 192 of you!

And kudos to all of the hardworking volunteers, chaperones, and Space Camp staff that worked so very hard to make it all possible.

SciVis 2013 is Wrapping Up

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Tomorrow, 192 kids from countries all over the world will graduate from their SCIVIS 2013 program.

SCIVIS, or Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students, has been going strong for 24 years now thanks to Space Camp Hall of Fame inductees Dan Oates and Jim Allen, along with many other volunteers, fund raisers, chaperones, and others!  Next year will mark the big quarter-century anniversary for SciVis!

I had the good fortune to be at Space Camp yesterday evening along with Space Camp Hall of Fame inductees Penny Pettigrew and David Hnyda.  We were able to see some of the missions in progress.  Jim showed us one of the braille panels installed in the space station:

scivis2013braillePanel

And there are other tools for the kids to use as well.  Even Binary Star, the software that runs Space Camp’s Space Shuttle simulators, has been modified to enable text-to-speech into the trainees’ headsets, along with providing zoomed in views of the screen for the partially sighted children.

Even the mission scripts are in braille:

brailleMissionScript

Yesterday evening was also a special SCIVIS night, as it was the night of the annual auction.  Teachers and chaperones from the various schools and countries all bring in items for a silent auction and other teachers, chaperones, and Space Camp staff can bid on the items.  Those who contribute an item to the auction are then put into a hat to win a scholarship to attend SCIVIS within two years after winning the scholarship.

Last night, enough money was raised for five SCIVIS scholarships.  This was a record!

More information can be found on the SCIVIS website, and more photos from this year’s SCIVIS can be found at the SCIVIS 2013 photo site!

SCIVIS really is a terrific program.  Ask any counselor that’s been around for a while for favorite Space Camp memories, and SCIVIS is quite likely to come up several times.  It’s a very special program and all those involved should be immensely proud of what their efforts must mean to the very lucky kids who get to experience it!

Jim Allen with the SCIVIS Texas team and their SCIVIS Texas 20th Anniversary T-Shirts:

sciVisTexasTeam

Ed Buckbee Honored

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Former CEO and founder of Space Camp, Ed Buckbee was featured along with this photo on the front page of this morning’s Huntsville Times:

Ed Buckbee HSV Times Cover

Mr. Buckbee, the founder of Space Camp and longtime CEO of the Space & Rocket Center, will be honored by the Alabama Tourism Department tomorrow evening in a ceremony for his contribution in creating the largest tourist attraction in Alabama.

You can read the featured articles here and here.

Your Twitter Guide to ISC 2013

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The 2013 session of International Space Camp is in full swing!

A great way to keep up-to-date with the happenings and goings-on of International Space Camp in real time is to check out the Twitter feeds of some of the participants.

  • @sophfenton – Sophie Fenton, Teacher-of-the-Year from Australia
  • @Madzza – Madara Grinvalde – Representative from Latvia
  • @jadorelesfraise – Paula Bloma – Student from Latvia
  • @RBeerzzs – Rinalds Bērziņš – Student from Latvia
  • @Marengsi – Marie Martinussen – Student from Norway
  • @JeffCharbonneau – Jeff Charbonneau – 2013 National Teacher-of-the-Year
  • @2013TOY – Alex Lopes – 2013 Florida Teacher-of-the-Year
  • @IN2013TOY – Suzanne Whitton – 2013 Indiana Teacher-of-the-Year
  • @bobbiejokenyon – Bobbie Jo Kenyon – 2013 Michigan Teacher-of-the-Year
  • @roehlenglish – Jackie Roehl – 2013 Minnesota Teacher-of-the-Year
  • @sjtodd71 – Stacey Todd – 2013 Mississippi Teacher-of-the-Year
  • @admosier – Angela Mosier – 2013 Nebraska Teacher-of-the-Year
  • @LMarroccoNJTOY – Lauren Marrocco – 2013 New Jersey Teacher-of-the-Year
  • @CindiRigsbee – Cindi Rigsbee – 2013 North Carolina Teacher-of-the-Year
  • @oktoy2013 – Elaine Hutchinson – 2013 Oklahoma Teacher-of-the-Year
  • @jwaters1607 – Jessica Waters – 2013 Rhode Island Teacher-of-the-Year
  • @dancer29045 – Helen Walker – Teacher from South Carolina
  • @nbctchick – Allyson Chick – 2013 Tennessee Teacher-of-the-Year
  • @Globage – Jay Hoffman – 2013 Vermont Teacher-of-the-Year
  • @DrakelLaura – Laura Drake – 2013 Wyoming Teacher-of-the-Year
  • @Debesis2013 – We Own the Sky – Latvian Organization that sent Latvia to ISC

For your convenience, I’ve created a list of these ISC 2013 participants on Twitter you can subscribe to or just visit to see all of their recent posts in one spot!  Should I turn up any more tweeting participants, I’ll update the list as well as this post.

ISC Ceremony Open to the Public

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International Space Camp LogoThis evening’s International Space Camp Opening Ceremony is unique in that, for the first time, the general public has been invited to come in and enjoy the show!

That’s not to say the event had previously been closed to the public. If you knew where and when it was, no one was going to turn you away at the door.

But it was never really publicized until this year.

The Space & Rocket Center issued invitations over Facebook and Twitter yesterday and sent out a press release, to boot!

If you’re in Huntsvile, AL this evening, walk on into the Davidson Center before the scheduled start of 5:30 PM and enjoy!

An International View of ISC

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International Space Camp is just around the corner! In one short week, teachers and students from all over the planet will descend upon the U.S. Space & Rocket Center to attend International Space Camp.

I’ve long said that International Space Camp is one of the very best things Space Camp does all year, in years full of best things!

And in 2009, a Belgium television show, Een Simpel Plan, followed the Belgium educator Bianca Nowak as she attended International Space Camp.

This program does a fantastic job at captured the excitement and adventure found at Space Camp!

I highly recommend taking a look.  The vast majority of it is subtitled, but it’s almost unnecessary.  Bianca’s enjoyment and enthusiasm requires no translation.

You can view Part One (of Five) right here, and there are links to all five parts below the video.

  1. Part One
  2. Part Two
  3. Part Three
  4. Part Four
  5. Part Five