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