and middle school,” said Jack Jones Boeing South Carolina vice president and general manager. “It’s our responsibility to invest now in their education and help shape their learning experience so that in 10, 15 or even 20 years and beyond, they will be envisioning, designing and producing the next generations of airplanes.”
The DreamLearners program has been well received by school officials. “The program works well with our STEM approach to education—science, technology, engineering and math. It demonstrates how experiences we have in the classroom can, and should, always be related back to actual real-world experiences. Students have a tendency to grasp concepts better when they are relevant,” said Jane Kolb, Dorchester County District 2 science director. Each DreamLearners session begins with a quick review of the basic elements of flight—lift, weight, drag and thrust— how they act upon the airplane in flight, and how the vari- ous structures and systems on the airplane work together to increase or overcome these forces.
The highlight of the DreamLearners experience is the paper airplane competition, in which students are divided into teams to design, build and fly an airplane—all on schedule and within a set budget. Just as in Boeing’s production system, each student has a specific role to play that contributes to the team’s success, be it mechanic, finance manager, supplier management, or pilot. Each team is given a fixed amount of “money” to be used to pur- chase supplies and blueprints, cover payroll, and assemble and test a prototype airplane. At the end of the session, the teams have a fly-off competition to see whose design flies farthest.
Shannon Kammer (center), a Boeing South Carolina Education Relations specialist, explains the paper airplane competition to two West Ashley Middle School students. In the exercise, each member of the team has a specific role to play that contributes to the team’s success, be it me- chanic, finance manager, supplier management, or pilot.
The students soon realize that not all airplanes are de- signed for distance, and even paper thickness can have an impact. “We built a lot of variables into the exercise—such as a variety of airplane designs and different weights of paper— so that the students will work together as a team to evaluate the designs, choose the best materials and budget their time and finances to complete the task,” said Frank Hatten, BSC Education Relations specialist.
“The students are in awe of the 787 airplanes when they see them for the first time, and they have a great time while here, but at the same time they’re learning some things that just might spark an interest in a future career at Boeing,” Hatten said.
While the emphasis of DreamLearners is the onsite tour, volunteers also take the program to the schools through the DreamLearners Speakers Bureau. In the past two years, BSC teammates have reached out to more than 18,000 students at career fairs and other school events across South Carolina. “We want to expose as many students as possible to aviation and to Boeing. If they can’t come to us, we will take a portion of the program to them,” Hatten said.
A student from West Ashley Middle School in Charleston, SC takes her team’s paper airplane creation for a test flight. Students in Boeing’s DreamLearners program learn a bit about the science and business of airplane production.
As for the students, they come away from the Dream- Learners experience having had a glimpse of the complexity involved in designing and building an airplane. “I think it’s amazing that it takes days and weeks to build just one air- plane,” concluded Zyshonne Simmons, a student from North Charleston’s Morningside Middle School. To learn more about Boeing South Carolina’s DreamLearners, contact the program at
sccommunications@boeing.com. ME
May 2014 |
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