STARBASE Hill program in Utah shuts down due to massive funding reduction

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

STARBASE Hill in Utah shut down due to a $40 million budget cut.
The program, serving nearly 3,000 children annually, offered hands-on STEM experiences.
Staff volunteered to complete the program, despite funding cuts, providing a final race event.

SALT LAKE CITY — A Department of Defense youth program is the latest victim of budget cuts on Washington's Capitol Hill, and thousands of Utah children will feel the impact.

STARBASE Hill, which has provided hands-on STEM experiences for fifth to ninth graders since 2011, was forced to shut down last week due to a massive funding reduction.

Despite being laid off last week, STARBASE Hill staff volunteered their time Wednesday night to ensure students could finish the program, which culminated in racing the cars they had designed and built over the past five weeks.

The competition was fierce at West Point Elementary School as students raced their CO2 dragsters, the final project of the STARBASE Hill program.

"I tried to make the frontal area kind of like a rocket," said Zoe Tam, proudly displaying her creation. Though her car didn't win, she still found the experience rewarding.

"I didn't do the best, but I feel good about myself for actually trying," Zoe said.

Her mother, Brooke Tam, also expressed appreciation for the program.

"I thought it was wonderful. I think it's really cool that they did it all by themselves," she said.

However, the program is now out of funds, falling victim to a $40 million federal budget cut — a devastating blow for STARBASE Hill director David Amparan, who has led the program since 2018.

Participants in the STARBASE Hill program raced their CO2 dragsters Wednesday at West Point Elementary School in Salt Lake City. It was the final project of the program. (Photo: Avi Robledo, KSL-TV)

"It's difficult to see," Amparan said. "You see them get excited, and we know that they're going to do something in the future."

Nearly 3,000 kids participate in STARBASE Hill annually in Utah. Determined not to let the children down, Amparan and his team volunteered their time to give students a proper send-off.

"We want to see them actually have the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat — all that good stuff," he said.

There is still a glimmer of hope for the program. In Washington, D.C., the House of Representatives approved $60 million for STARBASE programs across the country, but the Senate slashed that funding to $20 million. Until this year, Utah received approximately $650,000 annually to keep STARBASE Hill running.

For now, as the final race cars cross the finish line, students, parents, and staff can only hope this isn't the program's ultimate end.

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