The Jack Swigert Aerospace Academy is named in honor of Colorado native and astronaut John L. "Jack" Swigert, who served on NASA's Apollo 7 and Apollo 13 missions. Swigert died of bone cancer in 1982 shortly after being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Jack Swigert Aerospace Academy curriculum, which is collaboratively developed by the Space Foundation and D-11, uses space and aerospace themes and principles to teach a broad range of subjects, with focus on improving students' proficiency in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics (STEAM).

District 11, the Space Foundation and a large cadre of community volunteers, including The Broadmoor Hotel, Ft. Carson Army Base, Peterson Air Force Base, Freeman Decorating (Denver), The Larson Group Architects, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and Production Printing helped ready the campus for the opening.

In addition, 11 Jack Swigert Aerospace Academy teachers undertook special training this summer at Space Foundation Space Discovery Institute classes on Earth Systems Science and Lunar/Mars Exploration and Base Construction. The two special courses, offered exclusively for D-11 teachers, were among the 17 week-long Space Discovery Institutes the Space Foundation conducted this summer in Colorado Springs, Charles County, Md., and Omaha, Neb.

Although classes have started, work is still underway at Jack Swigert Aerospace Academy, further improving the facilities, creating state-of-the art teaching laboratories, and developing additional space-related curriculum. Colorado Springs Utilities is planning a community service project on Oct.10 at the campus.

The Academy occupies three of the four buildings on the campus; the fourth will house the Space Foundation Discovery Institute - a national professional development center for teachers and an education destination for students. Space Foundation education professionals will relocate to the Space Foundation Discovery Institute over the coming months.

In addition to providing onsite training and support for Jack Swigert Aerospace Academy teachers, the Space Foundation Discovery Institute will provide training and support for teachers and students from throughout District 11 and from around the world.

It will house classrooms, the NASA Educator Resource Center, and eventually include three major laboratories: a simulated space mission operations center to open in early 2010; a simulated Martian terrain laboratory to open in early 2011; and, as funding becomes available, a Science on a Sphere facility in early 2012.

"The opening of the Jack Swigert Aerospace Academy and Space Foundation Discovery Institute is the realization of a dream for both the Space Foundation and District 11," said Elliot Pulham, chief executive officer of the international, non-profit organization, which is headquartered in Colorado Springs.

"We are developing a powerful education model, using proven space- and aerospace-based methods, that will benefit our children, our community, and the world."

Academy Principal Larry Bartel acknowledged that putting the new school together in the short time between the School Board's June 10 approval of the plan and the Aug. 18 opening was a challenge, but, he said, "The community embraced this new school in a way that I've never seen before. We had volunteers lined up at the door, we have a strong team of mentors, and we've even been 'adopted' by U.S. Army's 4th Battalion 42 Field Artillery Regiment at Ft. Carson."

"We knew this plan was challenging," added Pulham. "But, when you reach, why not reach for the stars?"

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