Ideas Abound At FAA Program
Aerospace education was
quite the draw at the 2007 Women in Aviation annual conference in
Orlando, FL Thursday, bringing together nearly 100 teachers and
others with an interest in sharing their love of aviation and
aerospace with young people.
Participant Julie MacKay of Coronna, MI, came to the workshop
looking for new ideas to bring to her classroom. A fourth grade
math and science teacher who is also the education director of the
Owosso, MI, Airport Association, her goal is to acquire more ideas
for both the classroom and the local airport, where she brings
student classes for on-site learning experiences. And ideas she
got!
Sponsored by the FAA's Education group, the program, "Flight
Plan for Opening Young Minds," focused on the agency's S.T.E.M.
(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) theme, bringing
new ideas and programs to those who want to inspire today's
youth.
"We hope these educators will leave with a pocketful of
inspiring ideas for the classroom," said National Program Manager
Sheila Bauer, adding they will learn more about the program's
partners and be able to use them in the classroom.
For those unable to
attend, Bauer spoke about online educational resources at www.faa.gov/education
that anyone can access, as well as the nine Aviation and Space
Education Program managers who are resources for educators in
specific regions of the country.
"We want to spread the word to all," she said.
Spreading the word also involves continuing to expand
partnerships with those organizations with similar goals. Said
Bauer, "We need to partner to enlarge the pipeline of students with
aerospace STEM degrees."
Jim Flood, a ninth grade science teacher in Winter Park, FL was
one of a handful of men in attendance. In his experience teaching
science, he said, "stuff that leaves the ground" is most
interesting to his students. With a nod to all the ideas he was
collecting in the workshop, he added, "The more information I have
to use in the classroom, the better off I am."
One of the resources presented was NASA's Smart Skies, which
uses an Air Traffic Simulator to teach Distance-Rate-Time Problems
to grades 5-9, and Fly By Math, where students become excited
doing hands-on interactive activities, including being an air
traffic controller and tracking and determining how two to six
planes can get to their destination Sector 33.
During the 2006 fiscal year, said Bauer, more than 14,000
students, 6,000 educators, and 150,000 members of the general
public were impacted by the agency's outreach programs.
Added Amy Corbett (above), regional administrator for the New
England Region, "We need to pay attention (to science, technology,
engineering and math) in our country so we can continue to compete
worldwide."