AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - November 2017 - 50

PILOT BRIEFING
YOU CAN FLY

Bringing science to life
Texas school teaches science through aviation
BY SARAH DEENER
FOR HIGH SCHOOL stu-

dents in the Karnes City,
Texa s, I n d e p e n d e n t
School District (ISD)
tabletop simulators aren't
just an avenue to learn
about scientific principles related to flight.
They're also a lot of fun.
The Redbird sims helped
attract 11 students to physics teacher David Purser's new aviation science class this fall. Purser is
field testing AOPA aviation STEM curriculum in the course, which he
launched after gaining insight into high school aviation education at the
first AOPA High School STEM Symposium in 2015. The curriculum and
symposium are facets of AOPA's You Can Fly High School Initiative.
As high schools increasingly look to offer career and technical education for students, aviation provides a range of career options that
put science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) into practice. Purser said the idea of incorporating aviation into his teaching
came from Eric Opiela, a friend, pilot, and Karnes City ISD Education
Foundation board member. Opiela told him about a symposium where
AOPA would focus on how to launch a high school aviation program as
part of STEM curriculum.
Purser attended AOPA's first high school aviation STEM symposium
and came back energized. With support from school administration and
the curriculum director, he launched an aviation physics class during
the 30-minute "excellence period," a time allotted to allow students to
pursue additional activities and programs. After some formal instruction, participants had a chance to fly three simulators paid for by a
grant from the district's education foundation. "While for them it was

You
Can
Fly

The high school aviation curriculum is
part of AOPA's You Can Fly initiatives
designed to get people flying and keep
them flying. The AOPA High School
Aviation STEM Symposium is the only
event like it with a national reach and will
feature tours of American Airlines headquarters, breakout sessions, networking
opportunities, and an update on AOPA's
high school curriculum.
https://youcanfly.aopa.org high-school/
symposium

MARK YOUR

a nice gaming experience, CALENDARS
they began to ask questions," AOPA's High School STEM
Purser said. 'What are all symposium in Fort Worth
these dials?' The questions
kept tumbling out of these David Purser will be among
the speakers at AOPA's third
students. They really want
annual AOPA High School
to know about aviation."
Aviation STEM Symposium,
Middle schoolers also held November 6 and 7 in
had a chance to learn with Fort Worth, Texas. Educators
the simulators when the will share insights, ideas, and
best practices for incorposchool district incorporated
rating aviation into STEM
a week of aviation education programs at the 2017 event,
into its STEM summer camp. which has been expanded
At the end of the week, the to two days to include more
school showcased the stu- breakout sessions, more
time to network with fellow
dents' skills on a large screen
participants, and a chance to
in the gymnasium, Purser explore the American Airlines
said-and one sixth grader C.R. Smith Museum. Register
took off, navigated by GPS to online.
another airport, and landed (https://youcanfly.aopa.org/
high-school/symposium).
in front of the audience.
This past summer, the
school was approved to get state credit for an aviation science
class, an achievement Purser attributes to support from the
school district. And a community of aviators-including Opiela;
AOPA; Texas Aviation Academy, where Purser took lessons
to enrich his own understanding of flight; and Karnes County
Airport Manager Ron Hyde-got involved. "Once you ask an
aviator something, they will help you out," Purser said.
Now Purser is among the teachers field-testing AOPA's
ninth-grade aviation STEM curriculum designed as the first
part of a plan to roll out comprehensive, four-year aviation
study options. Purser said the curriculum-complete with lesson plans, daily assessments, teacher notes, and more-is so
comprehensive, "You basically can walk in a class and you're
done." He said he was also impressed with the presentations at
the AOPA high school aviation symposium, and he will return
as a presenter this year.
Just weeks into the fall semester, students were taking off and
landing with the simulators, and Purser said grants would allow
the students to participate in introductory flights. "How can anybody be bored with the physics of flight?" Purser said. "The laws
of physics come together when you explain it through aviation."
EMAIL sarah.deener@aopa.org

50 | AOPA PILOT November 2017

https://youcanfly.aopa.org/high-school/symposium https://youcanfly.aopa.org/high-school/symposium https://youcanfly.aopa.org/high-school/symposium https://youcanfly.aopa.org/high-school/symposium

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - November 2017

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