Cool day for learning

U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Nicholas Jacks, a student pilot at the 93rd Bomb Squadron’s Formal Training Unit, poses with a group of local 5th grade students after explaining the war-time capabilities of the B-52 Startofortress during a static tour at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., Jan. 27, 2012. Jacks is assigned to the 11th Bomb Squadron, 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale. The students are attending STARBASE Louisiana, at Barksdale, one of 70 national STARBASE sites. It is sponsored by the 307th Bomb Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command. The program presents an exciting 25-hour hands-on minds-on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum to area 5th grade students and their teachers. STARBASE Louisiana creates an environment to actively engage students in STEM exploration to excite their interest, develop a solid concept base, and encourage them to pursue these areas in future studies. Approximately 90 students from Summer Grove Elementary and Central Elementary in Caddo Parish and Waller Elementary in Bossier Parish took part in the static tour. (U.S. Air Force photo by Betty Stephens)