I am so thankful to have found this wonderful youth organization. It is a mentorship and educational program for my kids with superb leadership. I feel so blessed that my kids are becoming equipped for their future and learning so much.
My son and daughter both started to participate in IAAS's program a year ago. Jim and the leaders there are the most kind and dedicated folks you could imagine. They empower our kids to discover and learn for themselves and make all kinds of cool opportunities available - including rocketry, satellite communications, ham radio, model planes, radio astronomy, and optical astronomy with observatory-grade telescopes.
More than the instruments and great knowledge that are shared (which are amazing), what i have been most pleased with is how my kids have blossomed in their confidence as a result of their participation. Because they are given room to self-direct and explore, they have grown in their critical thinking, learned new skills they didn't think they could do, and been able to take ownership of new projects and see them through to completion. The kids are encouraged to explore their interests and propose experiments and projects. And they are always met with encouragement and positive coaching to help them succeed.
IAAS has been such a blessing to us and I am so thankful for all that they continue to do to give kids who want to pursue STEM a chance to really do it hands-on and gain confidence and practical experience.
As a student with this nonprofit, I have enjoyed my experience so much! I’ve learned so much about how to use and maintain telescopes, as well as getting introduced to other things such as model aircraft and electronics. All of the people who run the program, and all of the students are incredible. I’ve also learned how to take stunning photographs of the moon and sun
This group has been outstanding to work with for the last three years. I have learned an awful lot about astronomy, telescopes Colorado Flight Aviation and so much more. I highly recommend this group to everyone that wants to expand and learn more because of them I know know what I plan to do for my career in life and they will help me get there
Where else can space loving students work with one of the Apollo science team specialists? Telescopes, rockets, radios, RC planes, great mentors from a wide variety of STEM based fields, projects that truly contribute to ongoing scientific research, learning to work together as a team, these are all the great reasons for kids to get involved at IAAS.
While Strasburg is quite a drive for us, it has been a great experience when my son could get there and join in with his team. They also arranged for online meetings to get projects going that were still in the research phase. Innovative thinking is run through real life testing and re-working to create solutions in research. All skills that serve these students moving on to college and careers. IAAS experience certainly helped our son with his college application and he is now an astronomy major at CU Boulder.
We highly recommend IAAS and only wish it was more available to more kids around the state.
My son was a member of the IAAS for 3 years before heading off the college. He had an amazing time with tons of hands-on experiences. He got to build and fly real and virtual model planes. His team participated in the TARC rocker building contest and the Ball Aerospace intern rocket payload competition. While in the group he was able to visit the ULA satellite room and made contacts with many industry professionals. The IAAS was instrumental in nurturing his interest in science, engineering, and flight. The opportunities and resources that are made available to the students make this group an invaluable resource to the community.
I joined IAAS in highschool and it was amazing. The instructors were so nice and helpful and have continued to stay in contact to check in on us to make sure we're doing okay!
It’s a very helpful, knowledgeable group! Great people! Lots of fun! Really excepting group of people! Love this group! Would recommend to anyone!
With the help of IAAS I was able to learn a great deal about aerospace and astronomy. When I had joined it was a group of students and 3 wonderful teachers who did everything they could to teach us what they knew. I'm not sure where they are now or how many students they have, but I had some of my best experiences in high school with this organization.
Started with the group in 1990 as a high school student and have worked with Prof. Moravec since that time to not only help pass along my knowledge but also to help grow the organization so that future generations of students can be impacted by the program. I now serve as chair of the board as well as various other adult mentor roles including technology mentor and custodian of the computer/network infrastructure.
It was started in 1978 and is mostly funded out of Prof. Moravec's pocket with some help from community minded individuals, organizations, corporations and government agencies.