Beebe drone class wraps up first year
BEEBE — Beebe High School 10th-grader Madison Burke said he might want to be a computer programmer when he grows up. He also likes marine biology, so he might want to use his interest in programming to create devices that dive down to ocean depths that would be dangerous for human explorers. No matter what he decides, Burke has started taking steps toward those goals through a unique high school class that focuses on unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones.
“What I learned in this class helps me in other classes — troubleshooting and problem solving,” Burke said. “You can’t just give up. We didn’t give up this year. We could have after crashing, but we didn’t.”
Chad Mercado agreed to teach the new course this year after Principal Mike Tarkington approached him about the possibility of a drone class. The two educators dived into their research, and they got permission to have the class from the Career and Technical Education Division of the Arkansas Department of Career Education on the last day of the 2013-14 school year. They then received funding through various grants.
“We want to build [UAVs], we want to program them, we want to outfit them, and we want to fly them,” Tarkington said before the school year started. “There’s going to be aeronautics and engineering. We’re going to look at the business aspect of it. We’re going to look at the safety aspect of it. Engine design, navigation, programming — it’s going to be a neat deal.”
Now that the year is coming to a close, Mercado said he is happy with how the year went. There were a few learning curves throughout the course of the class, but it was a success, especially considering this is one of the first high school classes on drones.
“We are it as far as a dedicated class goes,” he said. “If we’re not the only school in the country doing this, we’re one of two. Nobody else has a dedicated class curriculum for drones.”
Other classes in other schools may utilize ready-to-fly drones or look at engineering principals concerning drones. The class in Beebe examines it all, and students learned how to build, fly, fix, troubleshoot and utilize UAVs.
“We’re learning the full mechanics of flight,” student Presley Kay said. “We have to turn some of these [propellers] clockwise and some counterclockwise to get the correct airflow. … Before we started flying, we had to learn how these things worked and how each part functioned and how it all works together. We spent a lot of time learning about the software that goes with it and all the different ways to use it. We also looked at business applications and how it’s a growing market.”
The class reached more than the students who are usually interested in math and science. Sophia Totten said that her favorite subject has always been history, but the UAV class helped open her eyes to other ideas.
“This class has really shown me that maybe history isn’t the only thing out there for me,” she said. “Maybe I could do engineering or go into something like drone flight. It made me feel like I didn’t have to be closed-minded, and it really opened my eyes.”
Next year, Mercado plans to teach an advanced-level drone class for his current students who want to continue learning about UAVs.
“Going forward, it’s going to be looking at where we can take it,” Mercado said. “These things can go places humans can’t. … One of the things that I want [my students] to understand is that with this technology and with this experience they’re getting, they’re a step away from a $1 million idea. It’s really exciting for them.”
The students seem to recognize this, and many in the class want to continue to learn about and utilize UAVs.
“Nothing’s stopping us,” Burke said.