Monday, November 23, 2009

Life Skills Mentoring Program

For sometime now, Pinnacle has worked to develop a unique program called the “Life Skills Mentoring Program” with our local Memphis City Schools Students. This program hopes to equip our future young leaders with the necessary skills needed to work in a team setting while exposing them to a wide spectrum of fields that the aviation industry offers. This year, Wooddale High School in Memphis will partner with us for this program.

At the end of the program, the students will be debriefed and challenged on several objectives:
1) Each student will submit a formal write-up based on their “Life Skills” experience at
Pinnacle
2) Students are to offer a challenge on how to improve our work environment, safety culture
and other areas that they feel necessary for improvement
3) Students will be challenged about their career goals
4) Students will be asked what areas of the “Life Skills Mentoring Program” interested them the most


Captain Chad Harris

Holy Names Catholic School

On Tuesday October 20, 2009, Lisa Slate and Captain Al Smith spoke to the 3rd through 8Th grade students of the Holy Names Catholic School. Each year during Aviation Week, aviation professionals volunteer to share their knowledge with students in the Greater Memphis area.

Ms. Slate and Captain Smith met with Ms. Barr, the school counselor. Lisa Slate is a Senior Aviation Maintenance Technician in FedEx Express' Powerplant Shop. She stressed the importance of a good education and told the student about the knowledge and training she received from Christian Brothers University, Tennessee Technology Center, Pratt & Whitney and GE Aviation. She said the training gave her the expertise and confidence that she needs to repairs and maintains FedEx Express' jet engines.

Al Smith is a FedEx Express Captain on the Airbus 300. Captain Smith told the students that he graduated from the University of North Carolina and received his flight training while serving in the United States Air Force. One of the students as him where he had flown. He answered all over the world. Then he told them about his service to America during the first Gulf War. Lisa Slate and Captain Smith ended their talk stressing to the students their potential and the opportunities available to them in Aviation.



Lisa R. Slate and Capt Al Smith



I really enjoyed Mr. Smith and Ms. Slate. The children enjoyed them as well. They asked a lot of questions about the aircrafts. They were really enthused about how much fuel the airplanes can hold, and the rate of speed they can go. They were well prepared for their presentation. I would like to thank you once again. I would like for them to also visit St Patrick Catholic School whenever their schedule will allow. The best time for this school is 1:00 in the afternoon. Please call me at 901-949-2674 concerning this matter.

Thank You,
Catherine Barr
School Counselor

Snowden Middle School

Mr. Mitchner:
Please extend our thanks to pilot Lloyd Knight for his visit to Snowden last week. We appreciate the opportunity to participate in your Aviation Week experience - this year, we had approximately 80 middle school students (gr. 6, 7, 8) signed up
to hear Mr. Knight speak about a career in aviation. These are students who specifically expressed an interest in becoming a pilot, or other careers in the aviation field.

Mr. Knight talked about all the different careers in aviation, as well as the skills necessary for these careers. He shared his background with students and answered many, many questions. He challenged students to spend more time on their studies and a little less time on the phone and computer! The Snowden Guidance Counselors appreciated his professional demeanor and presentation.


This visit, combined with FedEx Captain Quincy Fitzhugh's visit on our College and Career Day, has given our students a valuable insight into future opportunities and possibilities. Thank you for arranging both speakers and for supporting
Snowden's career programs.


C. Funderburk
Guidance Counselor, gr. 6-7
Snowden School
416-6120

Hickory Ridge Elementary

Wow, an incredible duo visited our school Hickory Ridge Elementary here in Memphis, Tn. Their names were Gerry Dupree, a pilot with FedEx and Thelma Rudd an Air Traffic Controller and Founder of the Bessie Coleman Foundation. They were awesome and our 5th grade team loved them. They talked to us about careers and what we wanted to be when we grow up. They both grew up with few resources but they overcame and developed to what they both are today. This tells me that you can be anything you want to be when you put your mind to it. They also gave us an idea of how their lives were before arriving at their careers and what they had to go through to make it this far. Ms. Rudd talked to us about the sacrifices of the first African American woman to get her pilot license, Ms. Bessie Coleman. Mr. Dupree talked to us about what his job involves. He also quizzed us on science and math. Okay now I see how those subjects are going to be around even after I complete school. We all enjoyed their presentations and would love to have more visits. The impression they left with me was no matter who you are, no matter what you want to do in life and when you want to do it, you can do!
5th Grader

To those in the field of aviation, thank you for opening a path for us young people. We really appreciate the presentations from Mr. Dupree and Ms. Rudd. It helps us, especially us young men to see an example of what we can be in life. Mr. Dupree was a good example of being a professional. Seeing him in his uniform was awesome! He spoke fluently and gave us some good advice about getting into any career. Ms. Rudd thank you for touching us and allowing us to think of what we could be in the future. Some of the young ladies have even changed since your presentation. Now some students talk like they could be President of the United States. Would you believe some students have even starting acting better and improved their study habits? If you have another chance, please come back and spend some time with us.
5th Grader


A couple of weeks ago we had Gerry Dupree, a pilot from FedEx to visit our school. We’ve had some awesome pilots to visit Hickory Ridge Elementary in previous years. Mr. Dupree’s career deals with geography, science, and math. These are subjects that I do excel in so his career captures my interest. The exciting part was when told us his destinations are sometimes Africa, Asia, Australia and China. I would love to travel to those exotic locations. Ms. Rudd gave us a brief history of Bessie Coleman and the opportunities that were denied to her. I now understand and admire Ms. Coleman for her sacrifice and determination. Ms. Rudd also gave us demonstrations of flight patterns and how important her career was for passenger safety. These are presentations that I will remember for the rest of my life. Please come back and visit our school.
5th Grader

Whitehaven Elementary School

On Friday, October 23, 2009, the third, fourth, and fifth grade students of Whitehaven Elementary experienced an invaluable opportunity. Four dynamic, enterprising, charismatic and extremely dedicated individuals with the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) gave back to their community by introducing a group of third, fourth, and fifth grade students to the fascinating world of aviation.

Before the presentation, very few of these students considered flying an aircraft as a possible career choice. Now, however, “the sky is the limit” for these students, as they were introduced to the world of aviation as well as given practical advice by four distinguished guests.

Our guests, who are current employees of Northwest Airlines, were Rory Mitchner, a pilot for Northwest Airlines, Debora Cantron, an aircraft mechanic and Investigator for Flight Standards, T.J. Johnson, a program manager for Northwest who is also retired from the Navy, and Ernie Taylor, a pilot for Northwest Airlines and retired First Officer in the Navy. These highly credentialed employees unselfishly gave of their time, and talents last Friday, to impart knowledge to our students. Our students were continually engaged with information from learning about flying a plane to actually putting together their own miniature models. Deborah Cantron actively involved our third grade students in constructing “candy aircraft” models made from everyday items such as chewing gum, life savers and “Smarties”. Our students also simulated flying in a cockpit, preparing for takeoff and landing and asking everything they wanted to know about flying with Ernie Taylor. Officer Taylor and Ms. Cantron also visited with our fourth grade students and demonstrated how to construct their own airplane from drinking straws, mimeograph paper, and scotch tape. T.J. Johnson engaged our fifth grade students in interesting discussion about what they need to learn and master while in school if they aspire to become a pilot. He also involved them in constructing their own wooden model aircrafts and allowed them to “fly” them in their classroom. Pilot Rory Mitchner gave a dynamic oral presentation to our fourth grade students as he motivated them to do their best in school, by sharing with them his experiences as a student, as well as stressing the importance of learning to read and encouraging them to pursue careers in aviation, as there is not enough minority representation in the field. Additionally, Ms. Cantron brought informative coloring books to share with our younger students (Pre-K – 2nd grade) and T. J. Johnson offered the students a “once in a lifetime” fieldtrip opportunity to visit an Air Control Tower
Overall, this was an invaluable experience for our students – one that they will never forget. Students and teachers were intrigued by the presenters’ knowledge, enthusiasm and dedication. It was our pleasure to have the aviation representatives share with our students, many of whom were motivated to pursue careers in aviation as a result of this experience. Experiences like these unfortunately, don’t occur often enough for our students. Our faculty and staff realize that it was not an easy task to take time out of an already hectic schedule to come and speak to students about what they do everyday, but their efforts are much appreciated and will never be forgotten by the students and staff at Whitehaven Elementary.

Maria Austin, School Counselor
Whitehaven Elementary
416-0137 (office)
austinmaria@mcsk12.net
mdianwrd1@aol.com