Students’ aviation class takes FLIGHT
Fifth- grade students from Fayette Academy were all over the United States on March 7, and didn’t even have to leave the school’s gymnasium.
Each Thursday during February, Fayette Academy fifth-graders were visited by Southwest Airlines pilot Keltner Morris as part Southwest’s annual Adopt-A-Pilot program. During those weekly visits students participated in an aviation-based educational curriculum covering geography, science, math, writing, career planning and more.
Each lesson built also on valuable life principles introduced by the program. FLIGHT (Fearlessness, Leadership, Imagination, Gratitude, Honesty and Tenacity) was introduced with each letter representing a principle that would help define the student’s career in school and hopefully, well into their future.
Students are also taking part in designing a necktie for Southwest and AirTran volunteer pilots to wear during next year’s Adopt-APilot. Each student was encouraged to draw a design on a tie template that will be submitted. Southwest Airlines will choose a winner from entries received from around the United States later this year and ties will be printed with the winning image for pilots to wear.
For graduation, Keltner, his wife Lisa and FedEx pilot Jim Lipe visited the fifth-grade students during their lunch period with cupcake treats and afterward the students met in the gymnasium to participate in five “fun” areas judged by “celebrity judges.” Paper aircraft design and decoration, judged by Phillip Morris, retired dean of Memphis College of Art and father of Keltner; longest flight distance judged by FedEx Express Capt. Lipe; most loops and rolls, judged by Capt. Harlan Kee of the Somerville Police Department; longest flight duration judged by Investigator David Pressley of the Somerville Police Department and a new twist to the old game of bingo led by Lisa Morris. This version covered cities that are served by Southwest Airlines and AirTran. The object was to match the airport identifier with that city name on a bingo card (i.e. MEM = Memphis International Airport). The card also touched on the states’ location and capital. Students were encouraged during the five areas to use the scientific process — a subject taught during the course — to help better their success during each event and to use the FLIGHT principles.
A field trip is planned to Fayette County Airport in April where students will see the workings of an airport and aircraft that visit.