The Lighthouse – A Message From the E-Directorate – USCG AUXILIARY EAST DISTRICT NORTHERN REGION

April 2026

Shipmates,

Welcome to the April 2026 edition of the Lighthouse Memo! Below are key updates, reminders, and resources from the Public Education Directorate designed to support your work and strengthen our collective outreach. Please review and share this information with your local Public Education (PE) teams.

Golden Key and Lighthouse Awards

To recognize lead instructors who consistently go above and beyond, the Public Education Directorate established two distinguished awards.

Golden Key Award – Presented to instructors who achieve a combined total of 50 lead hours in Public Education (PE) and/or Member Training (MT).
Lighthouse Award – Reserved for truly exceptional instructors who reach 100 combined lead hours in PE and/or MT.

The 2025 awards were hand-delivered to each District Commodore at NTRAIN in St. Louis. Distribution will be carried out in accordance with each district’s policies.

COMO Daniel Maxim Award for Excellence in Education Deadline April 30

The purpose of the Maxim award is to recognize and award the best of our current active instructors. This is not a lifetime achievement award. Consider other appropriate Auxiliary awards that could be given for exceptional performance for nominees from ﬂotilla and district levels who were not selected as national ﬁnalists. They deserve recognition for their work.

Submission deadline: April 30

Resources: See the E-Directorate website for examples of instructions and past nominations.

Announcement: Winner and runners-up will be recognized at the Annual National Training Activity (NTA – formerly NACON) in Orlando this August.

Instructor Development 2025 Final Examination (Auxiliary Classroom/Moodle)

The updated ID2025 ﬁnal examination has been migrated from the National Testing Center (NTC) to the Auxiliary Classroom (Moodle).

The exam remains open-book and requires an enrollment key.
The key can be found:
- Via the blue box in the E-Directorate Training Catalog, or
- On the Public Education Directorate page (cgaux.org) under the enrollment keys menu.

Important: Do not share enrollment keys via email, as this violates Coast Guard cybersecurity policy.

Marketing Posters and Brochures

The Public Education Directorate continues to expand its library of customizable marketing materials, including posters and brochures for both print and social media use. Many resources include Spanish-language options to better reach underserved communities.

Units are encouraged to take full advantage of these tools to increase class visibility and student enrollment.

QR Code Generator Guidance

After evaluating several options, the Directorate recommends a free, user-friendly QR code generator available at:
https://www.qrcode-monkey.com/

Important:

Do not enable “Statistics” or Editability,” as these features may cause codes to expire.
If using other platforms, ensure your QR codes remain permanently active without requiring a paid upgrade.

Safety Advisory for Classroom Instruction

Orion Safety Products has issued a recall for speciﬁc Skyblazer II Red XLTAerial Signals manufactured between March 1, 2025, and November 24, 2025, due to reports of spontaneous ignition.

Affected ﬂares (expiration dates August 2028–April 2029) pose a serious ﬁre hazard.
Consumers should immediately quarantine these items and contact Orion for replacement.

Instructors should incorporate this advisory into lessons covering legal and safety requirements.

Updated Boat America Course Materials

Kalkomey Enterprises, Inc. has released Version 6 of Boat America.

The new edition has been delivered to the Auxiliary Warehouse and will ship to units as current inventory is depleted.
Both versions remain acceptable, particularly when paired with NASBLA-approved slides.
Updates reﬂect recent changes in Coast Guard and NASBLA requirements.

Boat America Course Approvals

The following states currently maintain approval or extended approval for Boat America:

Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.

State approval primarily applies where the Auxiliary issues a state boating certiﬁcate

(e.g., Florida, New York, California) rather than a CGAUX certiﬁcate.

Each state retains the authority to approve or decline boating safety courses—even those approved by NASBLA—due to state-speciﬁc legal requirements.

Important:
Lack of state approval does not prohibit instruction. Boating safety education saves lives, and flotillas are encouraged to continue offering courses unless otherwise directed by the National E-Directorate.

Contact and Feedback

If you cannot ﬁnd answers through the Public Education Directorate website or your Chain of Leadership and Management, please contact:
p e.feedback@cgauxnet.us

We welcome your input:

What strategies have worked well for your unit?
What challenges have you encountered?

Your feedback helps us continuously improve the tools and support we provide to advance boating safety education.