Bob Hickerson	Scott F. Netherland	Mary Alice Deike

For release July 28, 2009
Contact: Michelle Woods, (830) 997-3567, mwoods@igniteeducation.org

J. Carson Dickie, President of Ignite, Inc., the Fredericksburg-based nonprofit organization that helped develop and support the innovative SystemsGo high school Aeroscience program, has announced the addition of three members to its board of directors. They are Bob Hickerson, Mary Alice Deike, and Scott F. Netherland.

Bob Hickerson is Chief Operating Officer for Texas Tech’s Division of Off-Campus Sites, managing a network of academic centers in Amarillo, Abilene, Marble Falls, Fredericksburg, El Paso and Junction. He previously served as Executive Director of the Texas Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service. A veteran of 28 years service as a naval aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps, Colonel Hickerson has degrees from the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Southern California and the Naval War College. He is president of the Skyhawk Association, an international association of military pilots, and serves as the president of the Texas Nonprofit Management Assistance Network.

Mary Alice Deike has been an educator for 30 years serving as an elementary school teacher, high school principal, and education consultant, including many years with the Fredericksburg Independent School District. She currently works with school districts in the area of building instructional leadership capacity, school redesign, and building structures to support teaching and learning. She recently completed her doctorate in Education Leadership from The University of Texas in Austin.

Scott F. Netherland, Colonel, US Army (Retired), is a graduate of Fredericksburg High School, holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering/Orbital Mechanics from the University of Texas, and an M.S. in Strategic Studies, US Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA. He most recently served as Chief, Space Support Element, US Army North, Fort Sam Houston, TX, and was also Chief of Staff at the National Security Space Office, at the Pentagon.

The three new members will join current board members Dave Campbell, Andrew Matthes, Claude Robertson, Wayne Harrell, Marc Williamson, David Pedregon, David Plesko, and H. Albert Napier.

"I look forward to tapping into the unique perspective and experience that each of these new board members brings to the Ignite organization,” Dickie said. “I am encouraged by the staff and board members now in position to expand Ignite's impact on education."

Ignite, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization formed to help spread the project-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum developed by Fredericksburg High School teacher Brett Williams in 1996. Students experience hands-on research through design and development projects within the engineering industries. This fall more than 40 Texas high schools will offer the SystemsGo curriculum, and their students will attend Rockets ’10 in April, 2010 to launch rockets they design and build. The curriculum has received national coverage, and is endorsed by NASA and certified by The Space Foundation.

Anyone wanting to start a program, to provide support, or to learn more about Ignite can visit www.igniteeducation.org or call 830-997-3567.