Discovery Awaits at DASEF

“When I was appointed to the Teachers in Space program, people would say to me, ‘Well, you’ve always wanted to go to space.’ I said, ‘No, I’ve always wanted to do everything,’” says Dr. Stephanie Wright, president and CEO of the Delaware AeroSpace Education Foundation (DASEF). 

It’s this core desire, partnered with her broad and varied life experiences, that inspired Wright to found DASEF in the first place. Her dream was that the organization would help foster a love of learning in the children who participated in its programs, while allowing them to explore all the wonders in our world and beyond. 

Ground broke on DASEF’s 40-acre property in Kent County’s Big Oak Park in 2002. Since then, what was once a small soybean field has been developed into a source of knowledge on everything from dinosaurs to space, experienced by children, their parents, educators and members of the public across the state. The grounds are home to several educational attractions, including a Galaxy Garden, the Mountjoy Observatory and DASEF’s original Environmental Outpost building. 

The long-awaited official opening of the Delaware Discovery Center (DDC) will be announced soon, enabling DASEF to provide even more students, teachers and families with access to the subjects that interest them the most. 

Val, a life-sized velociraptor statue, is waiting to greet visitors as they step into the main atrium. From the balcony above, Tyrone — a tyrannosaurus statue — welcomes guests to the upper section of the building, which is the first of the DDC’s four sections, each named after one of the major Earth systems. Visitors may view special presentations and films in the theater, or learn about a variety of STEM topics. The walls of the hallways are lined with display cases that feature a variety of themed attractions, from model airplanes to insects. When hosting field trips or summer academies, activities will be held throughout the DDC’s 14 Discovery Rooms, each equipped with kits, books and technology designed to expand curious young minds in areas of rocketry, robotics, environmental studies, mechanics and more.

Construction continues on the third floor in what will be the overnight area of one of DASEF’s legacy programs, the Delaware Aerospace Academy (DAA). Children who participate in DAA are awarded the title of “cadet” and can return summer after summer to complete and graduate from the program’s seven academies — Discovery, Sky, Space, Flight, Orbit, Moon and Mars — with the latter serving as a sleep-away camp that resembles life onboard a space station. To date, the DAA has graduated over 6,000 cadets.

“There are just so many things here the visitors will have the opportunity to learn and to do, and to be exposed to,” Wright says. “We wanted it to be a calming, good place to come and do all kinds of things.”

DASEF’s team includes the board, advisory staff and numerous volunteers. For all of them, the completion of the DDC has been a labor of love that has been a long time coming. Many members of the group have been working with the organization for years, and their commitment to its mission is as strong today as it was when they started.

“They are the most amazing human beings I have ever had the pleasure and honor to know,” Wright says.

As construction on the DDC nears completion, the group  hopes that those who visit the DASEF site are inspired and encouraged to keep asking questions about the universe we call home.

“That’s what the building is all about, trying to help people make sense of what’s around them,” Wright says. “To leave feeling elated that they were able to have a good time, with all different kinds of people, who were there for a purpose: to learn something new.”

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Founded in 1990, DASEF is an independent non-profit education organization having 501(c)(3) status. We strive to improve the quality of life through advocacy of education and the environment and strengthening the workforce. Since 1990, DASEF has addressed the need for STEM education and outreach under our major points of focus: creating lifelong interest in STEM fields by engaging and educating students, families and community groups through field trips, workshops, explorations, academies and events, and developing knowledgeable, motivated, and trained educators in STEM disciplines through cutting edge training opportunities. To make these points a reality, DASEF has taken the next step in STEM education in Delaware. With the opening of the Delaware Discovery Center (DDC), DASEF aims to create an exceptional learning environment that inspires children and their families with a sense of appreciation for the earth and its place in the universe. Today, DASEF is uniquely impacting the STEM and leadership skills of students, parents, youth and adult groups, exciting a future generation of engineers, scientists and informed citizens.