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News & Media You Can Fly: Inspiring the next generation

You Can Fly: Inspiring the next generation

UPS hosts AOPA High School Aviation STEM Symposium

January 1, 2019 By David Tulis
“We’ve got to find out what kids are interested in, what they are good at, and match things up,” said Chris Duzenbery, the director of college and career readiness for Decatur Township, Indiana, at AOPA’s science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) conference, hosted and sponsored by UPS in Louisville, Kentucky, in November. More than 300 educators and industry leaders attended the fourth annual AOPA High School Aviation STEM Symposium.
Preflight February
Participants had the opportunity to fly simulators at the UPS Worldport Hub.

AOPA President Mark Baker said the symposium focused on energizing educators so they could help develop aviation interests in the younger generation. He said he was “excited about the next 20 to 25 years of aviation and aerospace careers” for young people.

During welcoming remarks, Cindy Hasselbring, senior director of AOPA’s High School Aviation Initiative, complimented teachers who are field-testing an AOPA-developed aviation STEM curriculum for their role as “the VIPs” for the next generation of aviators. “These teachers are the pioneers, and we are grateful for their efforts and support.” Eighty schools are already using the ninth-grade curriculum, and 25 more are field-testing the tenth-grade curriculum introduced for the 2019-2020 school year.

Participant Stephen Kelley, a private pilot and a teacher at Massachusetts’ Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School, rubbed shoulders with fellow teachers, delivered a breakout session, and tried his hand at piloting a UPS Boeing 757 full-motion simulator at the shipping giant’s pilot training facility. “There wasn’t anything else to compare to this conference,” he said.

FAA National Aviation and Space Education Program Manager James Brough facilitated a panel discussion about careers and said there are jobs on the horizon that have yet to be imagined. He said there was likely “a well-paying career path through aviation” into “virtually anything that a child is interested in.”

The 2019 AOPA High School Aviation STEM Symposium will be November 11 and 12 at the United Airlines flight training center in Denver.

AOPA’s You Can Fly program supports flying clubs, encourages best practices in flight training, gets lapsed pilots back in the air, brings AOPA’s resources and expertise to pilot groups across the country, and helps high school students learn more about careers in aviation. AOPA’s You Can Fly program and the AOPA Air Safety Institute are funded by charitable donations to the AOPA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization.

www.aopafoundation.org

David Tulis

David Tulis

Senior Photographer
Senior Photographer David Tulis joined AOPA in 2015 and is a private pilot with single-engine land and sea ratings and a tailwheel endorsement. He is also a certificated remote pilot and co-host of the award-wining AOPA Hangar Talk podcast. David enjoys vintage aircraft ad photography.
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