Here at the Aviation Museum of N.H., we have much to be thankful for: our volunteers, our supporters, our board members, our staff, and the new friends we make every day that visitors walk through the door.
But this Thanksgiving, we’d like to extend a special note of gratitude to all the people—nearly 100 strong!—active in our high school plane-building program around the state. Every day classes are in session, students at high schools in Manchester, Lebanon, and Farmington are building actual airplanes!
We’re thankful for the students, yes, but also the dozens of adult volunteer mentors who give freely of their time every week in the workshop, plus the dedicated faculty members, administration, and support staff members at each school. Without them, this program would still be an idea.
To give you an idea of how the student plane-building program is making a difference, we’d like to share notes from Lebanon High School Principal Ian Smith, who recently visited the school’s ‘Take Flight’ plane-building workshop:
“Good afternoon, all – I took the opportunity to visit the “Hangar”, the site of the ongoing plane build. I don’t know why I was surprised, but the level of collaboration, partnership, and productivity taking place among students, staff, and volunteers was off the charts. Pieces of the plane, near to completion, were mounted safely on the wall, out of harm’s way. Machine tools were buzzing, and earnest discussions were taking place among all parties about what the next steps were going to be – problem solving on the fly.
To have an opportunity to participate in a Project Based Learning experience at that level is not the ordinary, but it has provided a model that we can reference when encouraging more PBL opportunities be made available for students in a more traditional classroom setting. Walking the halls regularly and having a chance to witness the different interactions students have with their teachers and their peers, how their seats are arranged, the classroom material they’ve been asked to process, is worthwhile to see.
The best examples of learning happen when students have been introduced to what it is they’ve been asked to do, they’ve prepared in advance, and then work together, share ideas, think critically, and then be able to show evidence that good work has been done. This type of learning happens every day across the curriculum, and although planes aren’t being built in every room, the skill set necessary to accomplish a feat like that is being practiced throughout the building – the hope is that examples of this type of “instruction” become even more widespread and the competencies necessary to be a good team player are enhanced. I want to take this chance to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving – enjoy the weekend.”
Thanks, Principal Smith! It’s great to know that the ‘Take Flight’ partnership is providing an example that can inspire other programs at schools.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Learn more about our student plane building program (which operates in partnership with Tango Flight) in the student plane-building area of our website!