BLACKSTONE, Va. –
As 2025 draws to a close, so does the first calendar year of STARBASE Blackstone, the Virginia National Guard’s second STARBASE Academy location, which opened its doors in summer of 2025.
STARBASE is a premier Department of Defense educational program aimed at educating youth through hands on science, technology, engineering, art and design and math activities. The goal is to inspire and educate students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and expand their awareness of future STEAM careers while providing a model and vision for STEAM education to local school districts and educators.
While STARBASE Winchester has been open since 2012, the Blackstone location only formally opened in August 2025. While only open for a few months, the program has already benefitted hundreds of area youth, according to director Nikole Johnson, a career educator.
“This has been an amazing program to bring to this area,” Johnson said. “After working with students in the local community for 20 years, I know what a valuable resource this is for our schools and families. Our STARBASE Blackstone team looks forward to building a long-standing partnership that continues to support and empower students throughout this region.”
Since opening, the Blackstone academy has hosted more than 300 students from three local school districts, with 11 groups who’ve completed the full 25 hours of programming. In addition to classroom experiments and learning, students also visited the local fire department and recycling center, as well as touring facilities of the Virginia National Guard’s 3647th Maintenance Company at the Blackstone Readiness Center, where the STARBASE academy is housed.
Johnson said it’s the classroom experiments and student curiosity that really highlight the program.
“Students love to build, and in an ever-evolving world, coding has become just as important,” said Johnson. “At STARBASE Blackstone, our students are constantly asking, ‘What else are we going to build?’ They especially love the LEGO Spike Prime robots – designing them, building them and then bringing them to life through the code they create.”
Johnson said the students’ excitement and curiosity benefits her and her instructors as well.
“All staff, students and visiting teachers have call signs that they use at STARBASE,” Johnson said. “My call sign is Pivot, and I love it because it truly reflects what I do as a director. I am constantly adapting to meet the needs of our students and STARBASE staff.
“I absolutely love working with kids and seeing their excitement, growth, and the real-world connections they make through the program. Even now, I can already see how STARBASE is inspiring them to explore more, sparking their curiosity, and encouraging deeper inquiry.”
Read more about STARBASE at https://vngpao.info/STARBASE.
Learn more about DOD STARBASE at https://dodstarbase.org.