We fi nally assembled the team and broke them into
groups so the work could be completed over the course of the day instead of a specifi c period of time. At fi rst, the stu- dents were hesitant to start; however, they slowly but surely crawled out of their shells and began to work on the project. Day after day, the team would check in, get their safety glasses and gather around the blueprint. Then they would inspect the task card to match it up with the blueprint and quickly gather their tools. At this point you could feel a synergy and pride from this assembly. There was a constant exchange of communications, and rivet guns could be heard in the maintenance lab and hallway. All you could hear was the buzz of drills as the students proceeded to fasten rivets. All of a sudden you would hear the rivet gun pop! These activities carried on for 80 minutes, but the time seemed to quickly fl y by. Calicos that once held together ribs to sheet metal were put back on the board as the project transformation began to take shape. Before leaving for the
Critical Support
Outside of the classroom, we get a lot of support from our community. Thanks to local SME Chapter 217, we are able to provide students with opportunities in STEM and manu- facturing experiences. The chapter has partnered with us on many levels. Chapter president John Edwards invites our staff to attend monthly meetings and he has paved the way for our students to gain a better grasp of the manufactur- ing process. Members of Chapter 217 also visit our campus each year to present us with scholarship funds for one of our graduating seniors. The Hampton Roads SME chapter has even paid for several SME student memberships, which gives students a whole new level of understanding of the manufacturing process and future opportunities. We are also fortunate to be one of the high schools in the Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education (PRIME) network. As part of this network, we are able to interact with schools across the nation. Thanks to our partnership with
Having gifted students working elbow to elbow with special needs and English language learners is absolutely priceless. ... They all understand each other and work well as a unit.
day, students from the fi rst shift marked their task card with the projects they completed, so the next team could pick up from where they left off. This daily process has helped reshape our school’s culture. Teachers could not complete task cards quickly enough for the students who eventually bypassed the cards and began to look at the blueprints and take over the plane build. Today, teachers merely guide the maintenance of students, instead of directing them. After a few short months, the framework and ribs have begun to take shape into the verti- cal stabilizer and the wings. It is still hard to believe that our kids have used over 10,000 rivets on this project so far. Nothing is more powerful than observing the same quality
of work from our students regardless of gender or ability. Having gifted students working elbow to elbow with special needs and English language learners is absolutely priceless. There is no difference in the quality of their work and they all understand each other and work well as a unit. I am even humbled to see young ladies in the lab as their teachers tell the male students to watch their peers and learn their secrets on riveting, drilling, cutting, etc.
SME and the Education Foundation, we are able to imple- ment another facet of our wind tunnel, which elevates our students to a new level of thinking and learning. Students whose projects and activities are used in the wind tunnel have stopped asking “why” about the process and have started asking “how?” Changing this mindset per- mits students to take ownership in their learning, and this is when students begin to have pride, satisfaction, integrity and honor in their work on the project.
Manufacturing gives students a chance to combine the best of both worlds—education and manufacturing—and it gives them insight into future jobs in the 21st
Century that
will not only make them successful but guarantee that the quality of manufacturing products in America will be second to none.
Dr. Aaron Smith, the program director at Aviation Academy, which is a pioneer in STEM Education. Author, Awakening Your STEM School, provides a blueprint to transform their magnet program into an elite STEM site. Senior Vice President of Geazle, a professional STEM network devoted to helping others, as well as the profession.
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