STAYING THE COURSE


English. But primarily, he said, he’s an educator who believes in sharing knowledge he’s acquired through personal experience.


“When I first started the program, I thought it might not be as important now, but it will be one day. In our society there are all kinds of diversity, ethnic and cultural issues, but we all have to work together at some point.” With heightened government focus on equity in the last two years, he said in a June interview with Army AL&T, the timing is right to increase outreach efforts and boost enrollment in DOD STEM. Tere are now 574 federally recognized Native tribes in the United States, and Chappelle is responsible for coordinating with 40 of them.


Much like the DOD STEM program mission to “inspire, culti- vate, and develop exceptional STEM talent through a continuum of opportunities to enrich our current and future” workforce, Chappelle’s homegrown STEM program was designed in the form of a K-12 camp series and one Saturday a month.


TEN…NINE…EIGHT…


Cadets prepare to launch water rockets at a STEM Day camp Aug. 5, 2021, at Fort Custer. (Photo by Jerome Aliotta, DEVCOM Ground Vehicle Systems Center)


to sponsor DOD STEM K-12 summer camps on tribal lands, opening doors to new educational opportunities for Native and Indigenous students in underserved communities in the Michi- gan area. Tose nations include Lac Vieux Desert, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Bay Mills Indian Community, Hannahville Indian Community, Pokagon Band, Navajo, Apache, Chickasaw and Lac Du Flambeau.


KIDS DESERVE A CHANCE “Tis program was needed. So I had that vision,” said Chap- pelle, who is both African American and Native American (of the Seminole Tribe, Florida). Chappelle can relate to the needs and circumstances of kids raised in impoverished and under- served communities. Despite growing up in the “hood of Detroit,” he took advantage of opportunities available to him and earned three bachelor’s degrees, two master’s, his teaching certificate and credits toward his doctorate—in the fields of chemistry, phys- ics, electrical engineering, mathematics, history, sociology and


It’s Chappelle’s contention that “kids of all cultures and ethnici- ties who have potential—from the most financially disadvantaged areas with the highest crime and special needs, as well as Native American and Indigenous kids—should all be given an equal chance to succeed.” But since Native American and Indigenous students are underrepresented in STEM, this STEM program is intended to combat disparities between the opportunities extended to the general population and those geared toward these underserved Native communities with unique educational challenges. It is also intended to attract those with talent to the future DOD workforce. According to Chappelle, “If this program is allowed to continue, we will be producing a great diversity of scientists and engineers for the defense of the nation.”


MUST-HAVE METRICS For years the GLRTN STEM program operated with a small funding line furnished in part by the DEVCOM Ground Vehi- cle Systems Center HBCU/MI program. Once funding ended in 2010, Chappelle sought—and received—grants from the Office


“If you don’t expose kids to these things, you end up with a vanishing number of people becoming scientists.”


108 Army AL&T Magazine Fall 2022


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148