TOP STORY>>Field trip sparks students' hope for future

By Senior Airman Regina Agoha
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

Team Little Rock maintainers gave middle school students a first-hand glimpse of the excellence and skills needed to make both aspirations and aircraft soar.

Though the ground was wet and the sky was grey, 90 bright and sunny sixth, seventh and eighth graders from Cloverdale Aerospace Technology Conversion Charter School toured the 19th Component Maintenance Squadron centralized repair facility on Nov. 21 at Little Rock Air Force Base.

Cloverdale Charter School students are predominantly below the poverty level; some are known to be homeless. Considered by many to be at risk, students’ achievement scores have improved over the past three years since the one of the school’s focuses has become aerospace education.

Students learn many facets of flight during their middle school years from aerodynamic principles to hands-on design. They are exposed to hundreds of different career fields available in the aerospace industry. The school’s courses enhance students’ math, literacy, science and social study skills.

Cloverdale has a fleet of 40 R/C “drone” aircraft that the students are allowed to fly. They also have 35 R/C Flight Simulators, two Redbird Cessna Flight Simulators, and a STARLab Planetarium. Students interested in astronomy can use one of the schools four 130 mm computerized telescopes to stargaze.

While touring the facility on base, the student were treated to a close-up look at C-130 propellers, a compression module and legacy C-130 engines. Engine experts specifically explained the difference between the H-1 and H-3 engines and showed the precision, parts and processes that keep the Team Little Rock mission in the air.

“The aerospace field trip to the Air Force base was exciting,” said eighth grader Zadrian Goodwin. “It was so fascinating how every part of the process of making the engine was just as important as any other.”

Goodwin also said, “It was fascinating to see how the base worked as a city of its own. It consisted of all the things as a city like Little Rock would have, and it was so big. My favorite part about the trip was seeing one of the planes take off, and even though I was hoping to see a jet, I was still amazed.”

The students were not only amazed by the base as a whole; they were impressed with the individual commitment each Airmen had to their job and one another.

“What I thought about the field trip was that it’s really cool that all those men work together to make those engines,” said sixth grader Maria Cervantes. “Also, I thought the experience of getting to see an engine in person and to see all parts of the engine. Also I thought that it was amazing that all of the people memorize all the parts of the engine and the tools that they use for the engines. The [squadron] commander was also very welcoming to us. It was a very cool trip that we got to see the engines and even saw a plane take off.”

Garrick St. Pierre, the school’s coordinator and also an aerospace education officer for Arkansas Wing, said when the students go on field trips like these his goals for them are: to see the hard work, dedication and teamwork the Airmen display, provide career possibilities (civilian and military), and to confirm the academics they learn at school.

“Most students never thought about airplanes before;” said St. Pierre. “Many have never seen an airplane except when it flies overhead. I wish I could say that aerospace is every student’s favorite class, but it is not. However, a huge number love it and more importantly, has opened their eyes to the world beyond Southwest Little Rock. For many, it is the first time they have realized the world is larger than school and the block they live on.”

Three things St. Pierre said he wants the students to learn from his class are: 1) The world is a great big place with lots of wonderful things in it, and they can have a fantastic life for those that are willing to try new things and go new places. 2) There are more choices in life after high school than either going to college. 3) What they learn in math, English, science and social studies is used in the real world by real people.

“One of the things we did at the base was talk to people who worked and lived there,” said seventh grader, Bintou Konneh. “It was awesome that people were talking to us about their lives and what they do.”