| [Wings 'n' Things/Aviation......May 23, 2005]
by Judie Betz DR. N.H. JONES SCHOOL TAKES AVIATION TO ELEMENTARY LEVEL Kids attending Dr. N.H. Jones Elementary School in northwest Ocala are very fortunate. They have dedicated teachers keeping their interest while educating them with exceptional programs. One such teacher is Vicki Ambrose, a science teacher who for several years has kept an aviation unit going at the school. Since 2000, the entire faculty has been conducting a flight unit as a school-wide project made possible by a grant funded by the National Science Teachers Association and Toyota Motor Sales, Inc. According to Ambrose, the rationale in writing the original grant "was that the study of flight and aerodynamics is crucial to the basic understanding of our world. This is particularly true here in Florida, where children have grown up with the space shuttle, yet they have little understanding. This project provides students with an exciting and motivating way to understand the basic concepts of flight and aerodynamics.The objectives of this project are to teach students the fundamentals of flight and aerodynamics, with each grade level focusing on a different concept. This way, by the time a kindergarten student leaves fifth grade, he will have learned about every aspect of flight, its history and development." Over time, due to other pressing drains on the teaching staffs time, the flight unit has been reduced in its depth, but some important parts still remain. One major component is to welcome those in the community with an aviation background to come and share their knowledge with the students. As a culminating activity for the massive project, a Flight Fair Day is held each May. Here students from all classes have the opportunity to observe what the other grade levels have been studying. It's a chance for parents to share in what their children have learned as well. Long time pilot, private airstrip owner, and East Lake Weir resident Gary Wimberly and I visited six third grade classes at the school on May 4th. Wimberly has been flying about 35 years, the past 15 of which have been in the 10th airplane he has restored, a low and slow flying, nearly 60 year old Aeronca Champ. He said he enjoys his flights for fun and relaxation around the Lake Weir area; he has even had the amazing experience of flying along with eagles as he unwinds after work. There were over 100 eager faces paying close attention to what we had to say, and asking us lots of good questions. Broken into two groups, they volunteered some things they knew about aviation, an impressive array of facts and experiences. Some kids had been for plane rides, and even handled the controls of a plane. Each one seemed to remember basic facts learned through the flight unit at school and were eager to share their knowledge. Wimberly described the forces of flight and the actions of the flight controls, using a large Styrofoam glider for demonstration purposes; the kids were right with him the whole way. They could identify many of the instruments and controls in a poster mockup of a general aviation airplane panel too. I showed a modern headset with microphone and they knew all about its use. New, though, was when Wimberly had a volunteer in each group don an old-fashioned leather flying helmet, goggles, and long white scarf, then flap bent arms to simulate wings... no, the kids KNEW they'd never get off the ground that way. After the laughter died down he led into other early flight attempts by showing a portion of a vintage film about the early days of aviation — again, to great laughter from the audience. We all enjoyed it enormously! We received some very special thank you letters from some of the students. Two in particular said it all. James Stewart wrote, "Thank you for coming and teaching me about the magnificent things in the plane. My favorite part of the plane is the cockpit. I can't wait to be a pilot. I learned a lot of things from you. I think it's a cool job." Mikayla Danley's letter said, "Thank you for coming to our school to teach us about aviation. Thank you for taking out part of your busy day for us, too. Now that 1 know a lot about planes, 1 want to be a pilot myself." Well, James and Mikayla, I hope you work hard in school and get to be a pilots one day. I guarantee you'll never regret it! |