KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL MISSION
Challenger Learning Center of Kentucky (CLC)
  1. Attend the teacher workshop being held to prepare you to prepare your students for their mission. If, for whatever reason, you have a teacher who has not been trained attend the mission with you or as a replacement for you, we would like for you to prep that teacher as much as possible or have them to visit the Challenger Center to observe a mission.
  2. Work with your students on the pre-flight activities. Prepare your students for the challenge that lies ahead. Students who are prepared learn much more and have a much better experience than those who are not prepared and spend most of the time dazed and confused. Do the activities but do not teach the mission. Telling them what will happen during the mission takes away some of the surprise at learning something new.
  3. Doing the activities with all students will give them a much better understanding of what they would be doing at each of the mission stations. They will then better be able to choose the team that they want to be on.
  4. Go over the positions available with the students and relate the job to the activities that they have completed. Have them to fill out the job applications and assign students to each position. (Refer to pages xii and xiii in your mission prep guide for information that could help you make this decision.)
  5. Complete the crew's manifest on page xv making sure you have equal numbers of crewmembers assigned to both mission control and the space station. If you have odd number crews, the extra crewmember should be put on Remote, Life Support, or Med. (Always have even numbers on isolation.) Please bring a copy to the CLC on the day of your flight, making changes to reflect students absent. Print or type the first and last names of students on the crew manifest since we use it to make up the crew photo.
  6. Be sure to use the correct "Positions Available" and "Crew Manifest" form because Encounter Earth has its own unique forms and shouldn't be used.
  7. Do a Mission Patch for your class and bring to the CLC
  8. Plan to be at the center at least 15 minutes prior to your scheduled mission start time. Some groups need to have a rest room break before the mission starts. You should plan 2 ½ hours for your mission to be flown. For planning purposes, you should plan around 3 hours at the center in order to allow students to attend the gift shop. If you are bringing two mission groups together and participating in the extended activities you should allow 45 minutes between missions for a total of approximately 5.75 hours for a two mission day. Please make all necessary arrangements to have busses arrive at school late with student's parents picking them up.
  9. Groups arriving late will have their mission shortened if an afternoon mission is scheduled and we see that it will cause a hardship for the afternoon mission to start late. Afternoon missions should also show up on time because arriving early will probably not mean getting started early for your mission.
  10. It is necessary that all groups be sufficiently chaperoned and supervised so as to maintain discipline during their visit. We request that teachers and/or parents accompany each group of students participating in the various activities at the CLC. There may be three groups, Mission Control, Space Station, and Extended Activities. It is requested that a minimum of two teachers/parents remain with each group. At minimum, both Mission Control and Space Station must have a teacher present at all times.
  11. Please heed to the 20-34 students per mission limit. It is recommended to allow students to fly no more than one mission. This is a simulation, and we have found that students going through the mission more than once are less enthusiastic and tends to be contagious to other students.
  12. Lunch at the CLC will be handled in the best manner possible. Our facilities are limited and finding a place to feed 60 kids is a challenge. If you plan on eating lunch at the CLC we would like to know in advance. Arrangements can be made at the Hazard Community College Campus Grill to take groups of student for lunch or they will deliver to the center.
  13. We are now sending confirmations directly to you about 2 weeks prior to your mission telling you when your mission dates are scheduled and what to expect. We also are including gift shop brochures and lunch menus for the HCC grill.
  14. If we need to provide anything for special needs students, please let us know ahead of time so we can prepare.