Every kid in this country is at risk of getting sidetracked from what
they ought to be doing. As adults in the community, we should to be
doing things to eliminate those distractions.
STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. For Rear Admiral, USN (Ret) and PhD Bill Hayden, teaching kids to embrace and do great things through STEM is key for the next generation of great thinkers.
Bill, known better by his Navy call sign, “TBall”, speaks from experience. His career in the United States Navy took him from flying F-4 Phantoms in Vietnam to the first commanding officer of the USS Abraham LINCOLN (a nuclear powered aircraft carrier) and eventually the Chief of Naval Air Training for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. It’s a decorated career of service to the country that took flight thanks to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
“Kids in elementary school want to learn, but they want it to be fun. They don’t want to be preached at or run through mental drills,” said TBall. “When you do that, when you make it fun and interesting, you change a child’s perception of what school is all about.”
Enter STARBASE Victory. Upon retiring from the Navy, TBall founded a program in Portsmouth, Virginia that brought elementary students to the naval base for interactive lessons and projects relating to STEM. STARBASE is now integrated in the schools, in labs specially built for the STEM projects. He has served from the beginning as the volunteer Executive Director, and about 10,000 4th, 5th, and 6th graders have had the benefit of going through the program and learning that STEM is a very real part of their lives and can be fun to study.
“Every kid in this country is at risk of getting sidetracked from what they ought to be doing,” said TBall. “As adults in the community, we should to be doing things to eliminate those distractions and helping our children live better lives.”
Admiral/Doctor Hayden has been married to his high school sweetheart, Kit, for 49 years. She will be joining him on the cruise! They have two sons (both are productive engineers) and three grandchildren. In his spare time, he would like to become a “scratch” golfer…but he’s smart enough to know that probably won’t happen, although he did shoot his age…once.
You can call him Admiral Hayden if you want him to feel old…you can call him Doctor Hayden if you want him to feel distinguished…or you can use his pilot’s call sign, “TBall”, if you want him to feel welcome. He answers to “Bill” as well, but you probably have to get his attention first.