AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2022 - 48

BRIEFING
Test Pilot Answers /
from p. 39
YOU CAN FLY /
Reaching for the sky
Virtual AOPA STEM symposium energizes
hundreds of educators
BY DAVID TULIS
MORE THAN 800 educators participated in a live, virtual AOPA High School Aviation STEM
Symposium co-hosted by social media influencer, CFI, and V-tail Beechcraft Bonanza owner
Stevie Triesenberg, with AOPA Senior Vice President of the AOPA Foundation and You Can
Fly program Elizabeth Tennyson.
Tennyson welcomed the virtual attendees from a hangar at Arkansas' Bentonville Municipal
Airport and encouraged them to participate in any of 10 on-demand breakout sessions that were
designed to help them " reach for the sky. "
The groundbreaking four-year aviation science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) curriculum for ninth to twelfth graders began during the 2017 to 2018 school year
with 29 schools in 17 states. It has since expanded to include hundreds of instructors and
about 20,000 students.
" This year alone we have more than 10,000 high school students in more than 300 schools
in 44 states, " said Tennyson. The initiative has also made diversifying the pilot population a
priority. About 21 percent of participants are female and about 41 percent are people of color
" discovering opportunities in aviation and aerospace, " she said.
Triesenberg, known on TikTok as @PlaneGirl, said she was " thrilled " to help host the live
program. The energetic software engineer " fell in love " with aviation after spotting an airplane
photo on an Instagram post and she began taking flight lessons soon after. Triesenberg
has since added ratings and certificates in rapid programs, and for getting students ready
for careers in aviation STEM fields. " Glenn Ponas, AOPA director of high school outreach,
said the breakout sessions were " brimming with practical tips for starting and growing high
school aviation programs, and for getting students ready for careers in aviation STEM fields.
During one popular presentation, he said, airline recruiters from United, Southwest, and
American talked about prospective airline cadet programs that offer pilot pathways " directly
from their schools " to airline flight training environments.
More than 50 percent of the first class of program graduates said that they were going to
follow an aviation related career path, and more than 75 percent said they planned to attend
either college or postsecondary trade or technical school, Ponas said. He said the program
is opening aviation careers to students who might not be aware of the opportunity that aviation
affords. About " 45 percent of all of our teachers and 55 percent of all students come from
mid-to-high poverty schools. These are the very kids who have probably never even considered
an aviation career. "
Ponas said that since the beginning of the 2021/2022 school year, 482 students enrolled
in the curriculum began flight training, 40 students passed their private pilot knowledge test,
six earned their private pilot certificate, and 38 passed the remote pilot exam.
Grammy-winning country music performer, pilot, and You Can Fly Champion Dierks
Bentley closed out the welcoming comments, telling educators that he " wouldn't be where
I am today without great teachers like you. " He celebrated the symposium that began in
2015 with 150 educators as the " only event of its kind to focus on high school aviation STEM
education. " Bentley, who earned his pilot certificate when he was in his 20s and often flies
himself to and from concert performances, invited attendees to Memphis, Tennessee,
November 13 to 15, 2022, for the in-person FedEx AOPA Foundation High School Aviation
STEM Symposium presented by Boeing. david.tulis@aopa.org youcanfly.aopa.org
48
AOPA PILOT / February 2022
1 The Jericho Trumpet was invented
by famed German ace, Ernst Udet, for
use on the Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive
bomber. It was attached to a landinggear
strut and emitted the loud,
shrieking sound of a siren during a
dive to intimidate and terrorize those
on the ground.
2 The correct answer is D. Roosevelt
Field Mall is in Garden City, New York.
3 It became official policy in 2017
that all the streets in Gander,
Newfoundland, be named after
aviation personalities, most of whom
are pilots. Such streets include Boeing
Avenue, Rutan Street, Wright Circle,
and Armstrong Boulevard.
4 The rocket-powered North
American X-15 was launched from a
" mother " aircraft, achieved a speed of
4,534 mph (3,940 knots), and holds an
altitude record of 354,330 feet.
5 The name of the airport was
changed in honor of U.S. military
forces having won the Battle of
Midway, considered to be the turning
point in the Pacific Theater of World
War II.
6 True. The Cessna 620 was a 10seat,
pressurized, executive aircraft
with four 350-horsepower engines.
Only one prototype was built,
however.
7 Brigadier General Chuck Yeager
said this when discussing his
encounter with a Messerschmitt Me262
while flying a North American
P-51D Mustang over Germany on
November 6, 1944.
8 William Boeing, the William Boeing.

http://youcanfly.aopa.org http://youcanfly.aopa.org

AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2022

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