Duluth Aviation Institute Develops Middle School STEM Program With Aviation Focus

In answer to our nation's call to improve student performance in STEM subjects, the Duluth Aviation Institute stepped forward to make sure Duluth students were not left behind. As the city who nurtured Robert Gilruth, Father of Human Space Flight, Duluthians can again inspire our students to reach for the moon.

Students at Morgan Park Middle School in Mrs. Munthe's science class are learning
about aircraft instruments by modeling their own panels.

The Duluth Aviation Institute, in collaboration with the Duluth School District, has brought aviation into the classrooms of Morgan Park and Woodland Middle Schools. Calling together the local aviation and education communities, Sandra Ettestad, President of the Duluth Aviation Institute, developed a program bringing the best of aviation to area students. "Merging our local aviation history, role models, industry, and airports, with the educational materials from Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and Experimental Aircraft Association, a uniquely Duluth program evolved," Ettestad stated.

For nine lessons, the Institute's aviation educators, Ettestad and Bill Irving, along with local aviation volunteers, have been inspiring students to achieve in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with the Path to Aviation - Gilruth Continuum program. Over the course of nine weeks, lessons have been presented, models have been assembled, "Plane Quizzes" have been answered, and extra credit projects are finished.  The students who have excelled throughout the program are being rewarded with a Young Eagles Flight from Sky Harbor Airport on Thursday, May 26th from 9:00 to 1:00. Dreams of flying will come true.

"Morgan Park and Woodland students have been presented a program they can relate to and reflect upon with their own ambitions", said Tim Velner, DSD Science Curriculum Specialist. Velner presented the Path to Aviation - Gilruth Continuum to the sixth grade science teachers, initiating teacher workshops for a collaborative effort to develop the program. Educators Velner, Susan Abrahamson, Nicole Munthe, and Deb Showalter are assisting in refining the lessons for future students.

Without local financial assistance, this unique opportunity could not have happened. Ettestad commented, "Through the generous support of our funders, Morgan Park and Woodland students are receiving the tools necessary for STEM education. The Monaco Family Charitable Fund, Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation, Northland Foundation and Arrowhead Manufacturers and Fabricators Association saw the need and provided the necessary resources for the program."

Creating partnerships for success, the Duluth Aviation Institute called upon EAA Duluth-Superior Chapter 272 and Cloquet Chapter 1221 to assist with the EAA Young Eagles program. This program is very successful introducing young students ages 9 - 17 to aviation with a complementary flight given by a volunteer pilot. The Duluth Airport Authority is supportive of the Institute' efforts at Sky Harbor and area pilots are volunteering to give the gift of flight.

FMI: http://duluthaviationinstitute.org/