Deke Slayton Space Week 2025 schedule for the week
Areas that are bolded list the different guest speakers and their topics.
There are 2 hours total per day of team building activities which will change and be different each session. Each student throughout the week will learn to both lead and follow as part of a team.
*Schedule and presenters are subject to change without notice
Monday:
8:00am- 8:15am- Student drop off at Museum
8:15am- 9:00am- Introductions, daily team building activities- Cheyenne Puetz, Youth Services Librarian, Sparta Free Library
9:00am- 10:00am- Lesson block 1 – Apollo 13 documentary
10:00am- 10:30am- Deke Slayton video, morning snack
10:30am- 11:00am- STEM teambuilding activity
11:00am- 12:00pm- Lesson block 2- Fred Haise, Apollo 13 lunar module pilot
12:00pm- 1:00pm- Lunch
1:00pm- 2:30pm- Robotics/Rocketry
2:30pm- 3:00pm- Afternoon break- STEM team building activity, snack
3:00pm- 4:30pm- Robotics/Rocketry
4:30pm- 5:00pm- Daily wrap up, log book reflection
Tuesday:
8:00am- 8:15am- Student drop off at Museum
8:15am- 9:00am- Daily team building activities- Cheyenne Puetz, Youth Services Librarian, Sparta Free Library
9:00am- 10:00am- Lesson block 1- Ron Mize, NASA chief engineer– living off Earth
10:00am- 11:00am- Morning break- STEM team building activity, snack
11:00am- 12:00pm- Lesson block 2- Dr. Simon Gilroy, Professor of Botany at UW Madison– growing plants off Earth
12:00pm- 1:00pm- Lunch
1:00pm- 2:30pm- Robotics/Rocketry
2:30pm- 3:00pm- Afternoon break- STEM team building activity, snack
3:00pm- 4:30pm- Robotics/Rocketry
4:30pm- 5:00pm- Daily wrap up, log book reflection.
Wednesday: (this is our one day that breaks from the schedule we use for the rest of the week; it is our off-site field trip day in which we travel to the airport and planetarium.)
8:00am- 8:15am- Student drop off at Museum
8:15am- 9:00am- Lesson block 1- Laurel Brandt- aviation, navigation, and the basic principles of flight
9:00am-10:30am- at field south of Sparta- Radio control airplane flyers demonstration
10:30am- 12:00pm- at the Sparta Pool– zero gravity experiment in water
12:00pm- 1:00pm- Lunch
1:00pm- 2:15pm- Visit to the Sparta Airport to see and explore airplanes in person, learn about what it takes to be a pilot
2:15pm- 3:00pm- Driving to La Crosse
3:00pm- 4:15pm- Visit to the Planetarium at Central High School
4:15pm- 5:00pm- Drive back to Sparta
Thursday:
8:00am- 8:15am- Student drop off at Museum
8:15am- 9:00am- Daily team building activities- Cheyenne Puetz, Youth Services Librarian, Sparta Free Library
9:00am- 10:00am- Lesson block 1- Chris Amundsen, Sparta STEM School teacher- heat shield
10:00am- 11:00am- Morning break- STEM team building activity, snack
11:00am- 12:00pm- Lesson block 2- Dr. Dawn Kopacz, Assistant Professor of Practice in Meteorology – Climatology at University of Nebraska- flight/launch weather conditions, weather satellites- how they’re launched, data they report
12:00pm- 1:00pm- Lunch
1:00pm- 2:30pm- Robotics/Rocketry
2:30pm- 3:00pm- Afternoon break- STEM team building activity, snack
3:00pm- 4:30pm- Robotics/Rocketry
4:30pm- 5:00pm- Daily wrap up, log book reflection.
Friday:
8:00am- 8:15am- Student drop off at Museum
8:15am- 9:00am- Daily team building activities- Cheyenne Puetz, Youth Services Librarian, Sparta Free Library
9:15am- 11:00am- Rocket launch at Southside Early Learning Center in Sparta, fire off the rockets that students have been building all week, family and friends are invited to attend
11:00am- 12:00pm- STEM activity at Museum
12:00pm- 1:00pm- Lunch
1:00pm- 2:00pm- Liz Warren, NASA human health and performance
2:30pm- 3:00pm- Afternoon break- STEM team building activity, snack
3:00pm- 4:15pm- Visit from Mark Lee, retired Viroqua, Wisconsin NASA astronaut
4:15pm- 5:00pm- Daily wrap up, log book reflection
5:30pm- Graduation! Presentation of certificate of completion and special lapel pin by astronaut Mark Lee, the Sparta mayor, and Museum board president followed by a dinner for the students and their families, Space Week instructors, and donors to Space Week. At American Legion in Sparta.