NASA Academy of the Physical Sciences (NAPS)

First, read: http://nasa-academy-of-the-physical-sciences.blogspot.com/

A further explanation of "NASA Academy of the Physical Sciences" (NAPS) is most easily accomplished by sharing the following two letters I wrote: the first to President Obama, and the second to Carol Greider & Teresa Szymanik.

In the second letter, I mention an online forum I had participated in regarding NAPS that had 21,978 views on December 21, 2010. On June 13, 2011, that forum now has 49,081 views, according to the analytics page: http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/forums/26/2/THINKING_BIG_About_Gifted_Educ.html
The entire online forum about NAPS can be read beginning at: http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/topics/77811/Proposal_NASA_Academy_of_the_P.html

NAPS is a magnificent idea! It should be done. More than that: it needs to be done, both for the good of America and for the good of those young people who would be directly blessed as NASA Scholars.

Steven A. Sylwester
June 13, 2011

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FIRST LETTER

from: Steven Sylwester (e-mail address deleted)
to: nstc@ostp.gov
date: Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 6:17 PM
subject: STEM solution: National public high school for gifted students: NASA Academy of the Physical Sciences


11/23/10

President Barack Obama,

On 11/19/2010, I wrote the following response to an article by Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) that you can read at this link: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/education/129985-redefining-the-federal-role-in-public-education-rep-mike-honda

Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) better mean "each and every child" when he writes: "The international achievement gap will also close as we employ all the tools in our toolbox to ensure that each and every child is successful."

Civil Rights are not just for poor people, or for people who are functionally illiterate or who are flunking out of school. Civil Rights are also for the most brilliant young people in America — The Top One Percent — the geniuses.

I have proposed a national public high school for the most brilliant young people in America who have career interests in mathematics and the sciences. I call my proposed school "NASA Academy of the Physical Sciences" (NAPS), and my proposal can be read at:
http://nasa-academy-of-the-physical-sciences.blogspot.com/

NAPS was designed with the national security interests of the U.S. in mind. Please read:
http://nasa-academy-of-the-physical-sciences.blogspot.com/2009/11/making-it-happen-nasa-and-naps.html

I participate in an online forum regarding NAPS at:
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/topics/77811/Proposal_NASA_Academy_of_the_P.html

The guiding light for NAPS should be found in a U.S. commitment to meaningful National Education Standards. In my thinking, the basic National Education Standards should be: Every Child 21st-Century-Literate at No Less Than Grade Level While Being Actively Challenged and Fully Facilitated to Achieve Personal Potentials in All Core Academics. At the top end where NAPS exists, the National Education Standards should be simply this: Students Must Be Advanced to the Academic Level at Which They Can Succeed While Being Challenged.

NAPS is doable. Please read my proposal.

Steven A. Sylwester

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President Obama, please contact me at your convenience if you have any questions:
(e-mail address, street address, and phone number deleted)

P.S. Other of my writings regarding NAPS:
Comment #1 and #3 at: http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/109427-competes-act-introduced-in-senate-to-fund-rad-education
Comment #1 at: http://blogs.physicstoday.org/newspicks/2010/07/america-competes-act-clears-se.html
Comment #2 at: http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/06/23/vibrators-just-one-reason-we-need-women-in-technology/
Response #1 at: http://paulingblog.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/pauling-and-the-nobel-prize-trip/
Comment #6 at: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/109109-adoption-of-nasa-compromise-means-continued-leadership-in-space-exploration-rep-frank-wolf
http://community.nytimes.com/comments/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/the-hilbert-hotel/?permid=234#comment234
http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/opinion/18herbert.html?permid=26#comment26
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/topics/89913/8.html
http://community.nytimes.com/comments/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/waiting-for-super-principals/?permid=122#comment122
http://community.nytimes.com/comments/roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/the-pitfalls-in-identifying-a-gifted-child/?permid=19#comment19

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SECOND LETTER

December 21, 2010

Carol Greider & Teresa Szymanik,

I read the Op-Ed commentary that you recently wrote for McClatchy-Tribune News Service that starts: "The Dec. 10 awards ceremony in Stockholm celebrated the 2010 Nobel Prize-winners and the ability of curiosity-driven men and women to open doors on previously undiscovered areas of knowledge." First, congratulations to Carol Greider on winning the Nobel Prize. And second, thank you for standing tall in calling the United States to task regarding the present state of things in science and engineering education, and the need for our nation to make immediate changes for the future.

Below I am forwarding a message to you that I e-mailed to President Obama on November 23, 2010. Please read it, and then share it with any of your colleagues who might have the clout to push things forward.

I am doing my utmost to champion my own idea ( http://nasa-academy-of-the-physical-sciences.blogspot.com/ ), and I need endorsements from people like you. Since my e-mail to President Obama, I have made the following online comments:
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/11/26/reclaiming-choice-federalism-and-results-in-education/#comment-243427
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/12/06/state-education-chiefs-students-should-be-our-focus/#comment-243673
http://themorechild.com/2010/12/08/race-to-nowhere-counterpoint/#comment-3582

Simply, I have proposed a national public high school for students who are especially brilliant in mathematics and the physical sciences. My proposal is simple, straightforward, and doable.

As I write this, the forum I participated in regarding my proposed school — NASA Academy of the Physical Sciences (NAPS) — has 21,978 views, and has been adding approximately 250 new views per day according to the available analytics, even though the forum has been closed to new comments since 11/29/2010. See: http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/forums/26/2/THINKING_BIG_About_Gifted_Educ.html

Plainly, many people know about my proposal, but almost all of those many people seem content to watch until someone else pushes the proposal forward. Carol Greider, your public acclaim is big right now. If you can, please help make NAPS happen. Thank you.

Steven A. Sylwester