On June 1, 2009 the University of Saint Francis and Precious Blood School took part in a workshop at Taylor University on the high-altitude balloon program. The workshop teaches professors and educators how to launch research-based high-altitude balloons to gather data while rising as high as 20 miles into the air. StratoStar Systems, a Taylor alumnus-created company, works in conjunction with Taylor University in hosting these events with funding from a National Science Foundation grant.
As a representative of the University of Saint Francis, Dr. Teri Beam, chair of the Department of Biology, sees the workshops as an opportunity to support science education in Fort Wayne and expand the university's curriculum. Dr. Beam acknowledges that "the Biology department works with the university's education program and has outreach programs in Fort Wayne. Participating in the program at Taylor University is another way to collaborate with the Fort Wayne community." In attendance with Dr. Beam was a teacher from Most Precious Blood School, signaling the first step in a joint high-altitude balloon project in the Fort Wayne community.
The purpose of the National Science Foundation funded High-Altitude balloon workshop is to incorporate balloon launches into the classrooms and curricula of undergraduate science and engineering courses around the country. The funding from the National Science Foundation is for training and equipping undergraduate professors/instructors to implement balloon launches in courses they are teaching. The goal is to learn how to teach students how to build high-altitude balloon payloads. Workshop participants are provided rental equipment for a balloon launch at their institution during the following academic year.
