Thu, Jul 29, 2010
Teachers Connecting The Dots With Aviation
By Dan Billingsley
The room was alive with the sound of teachers meeting others who
hold similar visions… bringing aviation into the classroom
to spark interests in the hearts and minds of our kids. Held at the
AirVenture Museum, Teacher's Day 2010 was hosted by Build-A-Plane,
who has placed over 150 planes into schools to date. The entire
morning of Monday the 26th was packed full with special guest
speakers who brought messages of inspiration and purpose.
As a high school teacher of 18 years, I know only too well of
events that seem to "spin the proverbial wheels" ... but this
gathering wasn't one of those. First up to the plate was
Congressman Sam Graves who got started in aviation as a kid and was
"fortunate to have the airport across the street from where he grew
up". "I use to collect aluminum cans as a kid to make money towards
getting my pilots license." Graves strongly supports aviation
education and only wishes one of his teachers would have used
aviation to teach him with. He encourages all teachers to use
airplanes in the classroom and actually made himself available to
call for guest speaking engagements.
Rep Sam Graves
If someone told you they would be
willing to give your school a million dollars "with no strings
attached" would you be interested? The Real World Design Challenge
is an annual high school competition that is funded by private and
public organizations. The program provides software, teacher
training and technical support and it is directly tied into the
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) coalition. "The
teacher training and the software are completely free" said Dr.
Ralph Coppola, Director of PTC who is the key player in getting
this program started. James Brough with the FAA Aviation and Space
program was also there directly supporting and involved in this
excellent program.
(L-R) James Brough, Dr, Ralph Coppola
This teacher gathering lasted the better part of the day with
many breakout sessions for everyone to get involved. Many things
are now out there for a teacher to plug into whether you are in
elementary or secondary. The dots seem to be coming together but
there is much more that needs to be accomplished and meetings like
this are just what the doctor ordered.
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