By Carl E. Chance
STEM education, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, is definitely a ‘hot button’ throughout the Midwest aviation industry and in cooperative ventures with area schools and industry. Wichita and the State of Kansas has been a well known aircraft engineering and development center going back to the days of Stearman, Cessna, Beech, Boeing, Learjet and now Bombardier, AirBus Wing Design, Spirit AeroSystems and Textron Aviation.
BUSINESS & SCIENCE PARTNER
Two of the leaders taking a big step this year to get STEM education in focus, was the Wichita Independent Business Association (W.I.B.A.) and Exploration Place, the Sedgwick County Science and Discovery Center. The Science Center has a major commitment to education that involves Adults, Home Schooling, Parents, Scouts, Teachers, Teens and Youth Organizations programs. Logon to exploration.org and checkout the roles they play with their heavy commitment to Science Education. Both W.I.B.A. and Exploration Place have partnered to provide fun science education to 6th grade science classes at Brooks Magnet Middle School, this semester. The class Educators had developed methodology in hands-on activities which were thematically-based where students were at stations working in teams and self-directed. The daily lesson plans complimented the science curriculum and could be adapted or modified to fit various student needs. The Goal is to continue the classroom program two or more academic years in following the 6th graders into their 7th and 8th grade years. The plan then will be to demonstrate the impact of the program for both students and teachers.
A program on the outcome and success of the STEM classes to date, was presented at a recent W.I.B.A. meeting, presented by Jan Luth, President at Exploration Place and Beth Rohrig, Educator at Exploration Place. One of the W.I.B.A. members, Carl Chance was recognized as a volunteer Educator who had assisted in the 6th grade class of Ms. Moshiri last month and is a past Middle and High School Educator with the USD259 Wichita School System.
A INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE
In the years previous, Chance had developed an individual interest in creating www.wingsoverkansas.com an Aviation website, and had developed an Aviation Education page for the site through a grant proposal from the Wolf Aviation Fund. The page is titled, “Flying Into The Future On The Wings of Education.” There are on that dedicated page, 23 Aviation Education Lesson Plans written around Aviation and Aerospace Pioneers. The page on the website serves as a resource base for schools nationwide and is being utilized by Middle and High School Educators in support to History and Science Curriculum’s. The Lesson Plans include integration of the subjects of History, Language Arts, and Technology. Each Lesson Plan includes Learning Objective’s, Educational Standards, Procedures, Activities, and Suggestions for Extensions to the Lessons. The Content Standards were supervised under the advisement of Lisa Heibert and Norma Lou Hilton of the USD259 Wichita School System. The theme, ‘Link & Learn’ also utilizes this page as a resource for Aviation Continuing Education, locating colleges and universities, scholarship sources, Kansas Starbase, FAA aviation education, AOPA aviation education and much more.
THE STEM ADVENTURE CONTINUES
Recently, the Wichita Public Schools Proposed the First High School ‘Aviation Pathway’ In Kansas. It’s a program to create new aviation industry options for high school students. The plan is for the Wichita Public Schools, WSU Tech and Textron Aviation to partner with the aviation industry and Kansas State Department of Education to launch ‘Aviation Pathway.’ It would be the state’s first aviation technical education pathway.
THE AVIATION PATHWAY CONCEPT
Recently Textron Aviation had introduced a high school education concept to the Wichita Public Schools and to WSU Tech that offered great potential benefit to area students, the aviation industry and to the Wichita community as a whole. Various directions to take the concept were explored and the program was one not to be ignored. The total values were quite obvious to the students. This new program was focused on today’s high-tech, fast-paced aviation industry.
With additional input from the aviation industry along with the approval by the Kansas Board of Education, the Wichita Public Schools are planning to launch this program as soon as developed, in four Wichita public high schools: North, Northwest, Southeast and West high schools. What this means is, with educators and business working together, this new program will match industry needs and students with knowledge and career opportunities. The Aviation Pathway program will feature two distinct paths, Aviation Production and Aviation Maintenence.
PLANNED PROGRAM OUTLINE/PROCESS
The plan is for students to take classes at the student’s home high school and at WSU Tech’s National Center for Aviation Training campus. The students would also shadow or complete their programed internships with employers during their final year of study.
Current plans would give students options such as sub-sections within Aviation Production and Aviation Maintenence.
In Aviation Production, students would study such topics as aerostructures, composites and mass production principles.
Or, for Aviation Production:CATIA, students would learn many of the same principles plus CATIA, a computer-aided engineering design program widely used in aviation.
For Aviation Maintenance:Avionics, students would study topics such as electronics, microprocessors, integrated circuits and drones.
Or, in Aviation Maintenance:Aviation Engine, the student in this subsection, topics could include hydraulics and pneumatics and aviation engine performance.
Of interest to the student, the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) has 16 career and technical education pathways. Following approval of this program, creation of the first aviation pathway in Kansas would be born. The next step in the process includes industry input to a proposed curriculum.
Working with the aviation industry, WSU Tech has already developed curriculum that they are using as a starting point for the program.
Working with industry leaders like Textron Aviation is part of the overall vision for Kansas education. It is timely to now bring together, Kansas schools and businesses in support of efforts to help students explore career opportunities that they may have never thought of. Students need to know that not every career requires a four-year plan of study. They need to know and understand their many options.
THE NEEDS OF INDUSTRY
This program will be fully introduced and implemented for the 2019-2020 school year. Expectations will be that many thousands of job positions will be open and will develop in the next five years as the aviation industry continues to grow with employees as they enter the workforce or retire.
Similar programs to what Kansas is doing as the above STEM Education program explains, is certainly a pathway that many other states could create and develop for future economic growth and development across the country.
Sources: Wichita Independent Business Association; Exploration Place; wingsoverkansas.com; Wichita Public Schools; WSU Tech; Textron Aviation; and the Kansas State Dept. of Education.