AFCEAN of the Month, April 2023

Rockbridge Shenandoah Chapter and Belvoir Chapter AFCEANS

This Month AFCEA International is pleased to recognize two chapters from two different regions who collaborated on a Virtual Elementary School Hackathon for fifth graders. The Rockbridge Shenandoah Chapter and Belvoir Chapter hosted this multiday event in December 2022. The event built on a framework used by Fort Belvoir and included six elementary schools across Virginia located in Rockbridge County and at Quantico Crossroads Elementary and Fort Belvoir Elementary.

Special recognition goes to the following individuals who made the event an amazing success;

AFCEA Rockbridge Shenandoah Chapter: Jeff Thompson, Mattie Smith, Jim Egenrieder, Tamra Lipscomb and Nancy Rowland.
AFCEA Belvoir Chapter: Brendan Burke, Gus Muller, Anya Kasischke, Tom Perry, Dawn Atwood, Eleanor Sigrest, Carlos Embury and Troy Benesch.
Others who were critical to the event were Beth Kelley, Lt. Ryan Quarry, USCG, Paige Owens and Tiffanie Ploeger.

The theme was a space-based mission called “Engineer the Planet.” Students played as fictional BASA (Belvoir AFCEA Space Alliance) coders to conduct a mission to Planet X and