My recent journey to Simi Valley to attend the grand opening of the Air Force One Discovery Center at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library exceeded my expectations. The keynote speaker, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, thanked Nancy Reagan for the invitation to the Discovery Center, and she praised the former first lady for her nationally acclaimed efforts on behalf of substance abuse prevention in American schools.
Spellings lauded President Reagan's 1983 landmark comprehensive assessment of American education, A Nation At Risk, which paved the road to the No Child Left Behind Act. Spellings also issued challenges for strong educational leadership, accountability, recruiting and rewarding excellent teachers, family support of students and a federal formula intended to calculate how many students graduate from high school on time.
Spellings is the first U.S. secretary of education to have visited the United Arab Emirates, where she met with colleagues and students to review education innovations in the Middle East and to inspire international education and exchange.
It was apparent from the excited dialogue of participants touring the Discovery Center that the unique educational concept offers an extraordinary invitation to "engage, excite and educate" local, national and international communities.
The Discovery Center features modules of the presidential Oval Office, the White House Press Room and the Command Decision Center that portrays a communications hub to the awesome U.S. military. There is also a replica of the historic Boeing 707 Air Force One aircraft that carried the president and Mrs. Reagan on important missions that shaped global history.
The presence of the massive, real-life Air Force One presidential carrier that is suspended mid-air in the pavilion further complements the educational enrichment of historical exhibits.
Life itself is a journey. Let education be the destination and experience the human dignity values of American democracy!
-- Joan Marie Patsky, Beaumont