The chapter is a key collaborator in Pikes Peak regional STEM programs and activities, enriching student education and providing needed resources. This year, the chapter awarded 71 grants totaling more than $183,000 to 65 local schools.
Established in 1946, the chapter's budget has grown from $50,000 to nearly $500,000 over the past decade.
This means that Colorado Springs students receive free or low-cost drone kits for VEX robotics competitions, 3D printers to design and create, calculators for scientific computation, microscopes to use in chemistry and biomedical science, computers to run coding programs, rocket kits to build and launch, and telescopes for stargazing.
Without access to these resources, some students might not be familiar with the range of future benefits if they decide to pursue STEM careers. Grants for teachers help educators learn STEM skills and knowledge they pass on to students in the classroom and after-school clubs.
'Our goal is to grow and promote STEM education opportunities,' said Col. Russ Fellers, USAF (Ret.), chapter vice president for education. 'Through enduring community partnerships, we endeavor to drive synergistic results to positively impact as many lives as we can so that all children are able to see and reach for any future that they can dream of,' he said.
Fellers has been the chapter vice president of education for more than 12 years. The chapter's hallmark program, the Mike Varner STEM Teacher Grants, is staffed by two volunteers and provides education opportunities for students in private and public schools from K-12 to grow the future STEM workforce.
Nat Sobin, coordinator of Grants and STEM Programs at Widefield School District and the executive director of Pikes Peak Robotics (PPR), said that the chapter's help has been invaluable toward building a thriving STEM and robotics community in Colorado Springs. On any given year, PPR hosts 130 teams with approximately 700 students from multiple school districts to compete in quarterly tournaments.
'We are very grateful to Col. Fellers and the local chapter. They're top-notch. AFCEA funds the STEM regional ecosystem and supports STEM education on all levels,' said Sobin.
The chapter was recently named a 2024 Harry C. Ingles Award recipient for the seventh time in the last 12 years.
If you attend a PPR competition, chances are most of the equipment and many of the entrance fees have been subsidized by the chapter.
PPR hosts four annual events to help hundreds of local students practice, compete and qualify for state and national robotics tournaments. As many as 128 teams from the Pikes Peak area attend the competitions held in the Widefield School District.
'PPR emerged from the idea to bring fun, low-cost robotics to all middle and high school students,' Sobin said. 'This includes El Paso, Pueblo, Fremont and Teller counties.'
Several Native American robotics teams competed last year for the first time in PPR's four-year history.
'We target low-income communities as a priority,' Fellers said. 'We also emphasize increasing the number of women in STEM fields,' he said.
In addition to subsidizing education, the chapter has hosted the Rocky Mountain Cyberspace Symposium for 37 years, which convenes the cybersecurity community to discuss the nation's most pressing cybersecurity issues. Corporate leaders and government officials attend the conference.
'We are very proud of our partnerships with Pikes Peak Robotics, University of Colorado Goodwill Industries and the Scripps-Howard Foundation amongst many others,' Fellers said. 'We believe we are delivering significant educational impact to our community across all ages and demographics.'
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