OCESS
Contents
The Name
The acronym for the full name of Spacesim. OCESS stands for Ottawa Carleton Educational Space Simulation. The name was changed from OBESS (Ottawa Board of Education Space Simulation) in 1998; when the Ottawa Board of Education was amalgamated with the Carleton Board of Education in 1998 to form the Otawa-Carleton District School Board, it was decided that the OBESS should change its name. At a lunch-time meeting, there was some name discussion and a vote was taken. It was decided to call the group the "Ottawa-Carleton Educational Space Simulation" (OCESS). The reasoning is that this new name encompasses the new board and keeps "Education" in our name. Furthermore, we had a nice logo for the OBESS and frankly everyone had better things to do (like prepare for the mission) than come up with a new logo -- so we just changed one letter.
Description
The OCESS or "Space Sim" as it is commonly called, is a student run program based at Lisgar Collegiate Institute. Currently run by Admiral Magwood, the OCESS includes members from all grades and is dedicated to educating its members and others about space sciences and space exploration.
Spacesim has traditionally followed The Golden Rule as its motto.
Re-Branding
In the 2001-2002 year, OCESS underwent some rebranding. Efforts were made to change the feeling of the group from a student club over to a non-profit organization. This effort met mixed results, but are most evident in the more professional website and the new logo.
Mission Statement
During the Rebranding, Spacesim picked up the following mission statement:
The Ottawa Carleton Educational Space Simulation is a Student-Run, Non-Profit Organization Geared Towards Educating Youth about Space And Space Science Through Fun and Interactive Means.
Current status
Currently, Space Sim is run by Co-commanders Brian Foo, and Stefan De Young under the supervision of Admiral Magwood. The current membership stands at about roughly 20 to 25 members and they have hosted one planetarium to date, this year.
Programs
- See Education for main article
Space Sim offers two educational programs, EEP and Planetarium to educate other students, both within Lisgar and without. These programs have been largely successfull in the past, though their demand has been steadily dropping due to lack of publicity. For its own members, Spacesim launches one 5-day simulated mission, as well as several smaller "training missions" per year. These, along with the maintanance and preperation activities carried out by all Space Sim members, educates them not only about space, but allows them to both learn and apply scientific concepts. Spacesim could change its name to "The SpaceSim and Engineering Club" without changing any of its inner workings!
Space Sim also offers its Galileo Chellenge to students of Lisgar and. recently, to students from other schools. With prized donated from Deep Science Accademy, University of Toronto, Carleton University and IBM, we hope that this year's Galileo Challenge will be both educational and profitable for both ourselves, and for our participants.
Space Sim is looking to restart its Summer Camp program by summer 2006-2007. It is looking either at forming a private company or a non-profit approach. Space Sim is also looking, over the course of several years, offer spacesim as a cirriculum course, much like outdoor education. Both of these proposals are long-term projects and will require a lot of work.
