AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2022 - 70

Chris Eckler, district STEM
coordinator/aviation for Ada
High School, was not a pilot
when he began teaching the
AOPA Foundation High School
STEM Curriculum. He's now
a private pilot and hopes to
become a certificated flight
instructor. Upper right: Eckler's
class includes lecture and
hands-on projects, such as the
radio-controlled models built
by the students. Lower right:
The sophomore class puts a
checklist into action.
" The people we're putting out of this program have a leg up on others and proving that what they've gained
through these experiences is benefiting them greatly, " said Ada City Schools Superintendent Mike Anderson.
Similar scenes are playing out at high
schools and airports around the country,
thanks to the AOPA Foundation High
School Aviation STEM Curriculum.
Thousands of high school students are
getting hands-on experience with airplanes-and
they're leveraging that into
successful college, military, and trade
school careers.
There are 322 schools in 44 states using
the curriculum, with more signing on each
year-and 100 percent of the schools that
enroll in the program renew-a testament
of the program's popularity among educators
and students, as well as a testament to
the quality of the curriculum. AOPA conceived
the high school curriculum as an
initiative to bolster the shrinking pilot population
and, in turn, the aviation industry.
The courses are designed to capture the
imagination and give students from diverse
backgrounds the tools to pursue advanced
education and careers in aviation fields.
While AOPA was confident that
the resources it would provide to high
70
AOPA PILOT / July 2022
schools through the innovative program
would take off like a proverbial rocket,
the schools that first signed up to participate-including
those with strong
support from their local communities-
can't quite believe how successful the
program has been, and the impact it is
having on their students.
" It's been unreal from start to finish, "
said Ada High School's Eckler,
whose school was part of the first wave
of 29-and the first in Oklahoma-to field
test the curriculum as it became available
for ninth, then tenth, then eleventh
and twelfth grade students. He's proud
to helm Ada High School's former shop
room now turned STEM lab, outfitted
with Gleim and Redbird desktop simulators
and a full-motion simulator donated
by Eastern Oklahoma College. Two radiocontrolled
Van's RVs decorated in the Ada
High School colors are examples of the
students' introduction to aerodynamics
and engineering. They built the models
on Saturday mornings, Eckler said.
As lead instructor, Eckler has seen
graduating seniors head to professional
pilot programs at the University of
Oklahoma and Southeastern Oklahoma
State University, while another is enrolled
in an engineering program at East Central
University in Ada, and yet another is a
cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy in
Colorado Springs, Colorado. What's more,
students who embark on flight training-
which the high school does not provide
but is instead funded through scholarships
provided by a community foundation-
typically solo in less than 10 hours. " They
figured out the sim before I did, " Eckler
said of his upperclassmen.
" The people we're putting out of this
program have a leg up on others and proving
that what they've gained through these
experiences is benefiting them greatly, "
said Ada City Schools Superintendent
Mike Anderson, whose vision for the program
was to see " kids with their pilot's
licenses and flying before they leave high
school. And here it is. We're doing it. "

AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2022