Early on a Saturday Morning at Capital Region Airport in Lansing, Michigan, aviation advocates, including yours truly, of all types gathered with one goal: help bring general aviation into Michigan classrooms.
Stem in Flight, sponsored by the Michigan Aeronautics Commission General Aviation Committee, GrandAir Aviation, Western Michigan University, Square One Education Network and supported by AOPA, illustrated the many ways a general aviation aircraft, general flight principles, and other aspects of aviation can be brought into the classroom to ignite students’ interest in the many careers that can losely fit under the term of ‘aviation related’.
During the day, more than 75 local educators explored the world of remote control flight, toured the airport’s control tower, climbed into the cockpit of an L-39 and a T-6, explored the turbines of a King Air B200, took flights in a Cirrus SR22 or a Cessna 172, learned about Michigan’s burgeoning aerospace industry, were introduced to EAA Chapter 55 from Mason, MI, and got behind the controls of an AOPA JAY Flight Simulator.
By the day’s end, educators were armed with the knowledge needed to bring general aviation directly into their classrooms to support STEM principles. For other educators, thoughts turned beyond simplying bring general aviation into the classroom, but rather towards bringing students to the aviation by visiting their local general aviation airport — a goal all of us interested in the future of general aviation can admire!