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Eagle's Nest Projects - Montgomery High School (TX)
By Foti Kallergis
Friday, February 02, 2018 08:01AM
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) --
Click photo to view story/video
Comments- /reb
Take a guess who has the most fun and/or rewarding experiences during an Eagle’s Nest high school aircraft build project; the mentors or the build-students. Well, it really depends on who you ask. Ask any build-student and they’ll certainly convince you that the students have the most fun and best experience. Ask any mentor at Montgomery high school or any other Eagle's Nest high school and they’ll more than convince you that the mentor team has the most fun and each will offer up a list of reasons why the experience is among the most rewarding in their life. And the correct answer is… it’s a draw!
The mentor team at Montgomery high school is a top-drawer group of professional pilots and RV builders based “on top of the hill” at nearby Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport (KCXO). Under the leadership of Joe Waltz, the mentor team has taken to task the largest group of build-students (48) at any of our high schools. The ‘team’ is doing an outstanding job of organizing the students, the build process, and through it all an excellent level of build quality. Build sessions at Montgomery high school are two days per week with two back-to-back 50-minute class periods of 24 students each. Their current build-project, EN-19, was started at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year and is on track to be completed and on display at Oshkosh this year. Just mention “aircraft build” to any of Montgomery’s 1,600 students or staff and you’ll be greeted with a response filled with pride, excitement, and an invitation to visit the build classroom.
Mentor debrief sessions at Montgomery are typically held at one of the local burger joints immediately following each build session. I’ve attended several of these debrief sessions and it reminds me of a bunch of kids in a candy store; smiles, laughter, and never-ending stories about the really cool or absolutely unbelievable experiences each shared with their students that day. Two of my favorites stories are (1) the ‘engineering’ student that didn’t know how to read a ruler and the mentor’s experience through the teaching process and (2) the student that didn’t know what a saw horse was. I found the saw horse story a little hard to believe and it prompted me to ask our waitress if she knew what a saw horse was. After a long wide-eyed blank stare, she timidly said no. Confirmation that today’s youth need a little less ‘screen’ time and a little more vocational training.
Eagle’s Nest Projects is the most successful and prolific high school aircraft build program in the USA. Seven and one-half years- 14 completed (flying) aircraft and 7 aircraft under construction at various high schools. Build projects are implemented as a companion lab project to existing STEM based engineering curriculums (ex. PLTW Aerospace) and the builds take place in the classroom lab area during regular hours. Students are graded, most receive dual academic credit, and above all, students are held accountable for attendance, conduct, level of participation, and knowledge base.
Community and education partnerships are the supporting pillars of the program’s success. Eagle’s Nest Projects is partnered with Project Lead the Way, the nations leading provider of STEM curriculums, Embry-Riddle, the nations leading aeronautical university, and with a number of other aerospace and engineering-based education organizations. Community partnerships include school districts, municipal airports, local businesses, and hundreds of individuals who volunteer their time as mentors. If you missed it in the above captioned video, ABC Channel 13 News was so inspired by the great work at Montgomery high school that they reached out to Southwest Airlines and announced in the video (surprise to us all) that SWA has offered their support and intern opportunities to Eagle’s Nest build students. When you think it just can’t get any better, a new community partner joins in support of the program with new and exciting opportunities for Eagle’s Nest build-students to further empower them on a pathway of leadership and a productive life.
Acknowledgment / Montgomery HS Mentor Team-
Jennifer Duffer, PLTW Aero Instructor, Joe Waltz, Project Director, Don Colchin, Brent Crabe, Jimmy Crawford, Gerry Farek, Denny Irvine, Chuck Lekron, Jim Pohoski, Sam Ward, and Clay Watters
By Foti Kallergis
Friday, February 02, 2018 08:01AM
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) --
Click photo to view story/video
Comments- /reb
Take a guess who has the most fun and/or rewarding experiences during an Eagle’s Nest high school aircraft build project; the mentors or the build-students. Well, it really depends on who you ask. Ask any build-student and they’ll certainly convince you that the students have the most fun and best experience. Ask any mentor at Montgomery high school or any other Eagle's Nest high school and they’ll more than convince you that the mentor team has the most fun and each will offer up a list of reasons why the experience is among the most rewarding in their life. And the correct answer is… it’s a draw!
The mentor team at Montgomery high school is a top-drawer group of professional pilots and RV builders based “on top of the hill” at nearby Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport (KCXO). Under the leadership of Joe Waltz, the mentor team has taken to task the largest group of build-students (48) at any of our high schools. The ‘team’ is doing an outstanding job of organizing the students, the build process, and through it all an excellent level of build quality. Build sessions at Montgomery high school are two days per week with two back-to-back 50-minute class periods of 24 students each. Their current build-project, EN-19, was started at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year and is on track to be completed and on display at Oshkosh this year. Just mention “aircraft build” to any of Montgomery’s 1,600 students or staff and you’ll be greeted with a response filled with pride, excitement, and an invitation to visit the build classroom.
Mentor debrief sessions at Montgomery are typically held at one of the local burger joints immediately following each build session. I’ve attended several of these debrief sessions and it reminds me of a bunch of kids in a candy store; smiles, laughter, and never-ending stories about the really cool or absolutely unbelievable experiences each shared with their students that day. Two of my favorites stories are (1) the ‘engineering’ student that didn’t know how to read a ruler and the mentor’s experience through the teaching process and (2) the student that didn’t know what a saw horse was. I found the saw horse story a little hard to believe and it prompted me to ask our waitress if she knew what a saw horse was. After a long wide-eyed blank stare, she timidly said no. Confirmation that today’s youth need a little less ‘screen’ time and a little more vocational training.
Eagle’s Nest Projects is the most successful and prolific high school aircraft build program in the USA. Seven and one-half years- 14 completed (flying) aircraft and 7 aircraft under construction at various high schools. Build projects are implemented as a companion lab project to existing STEM based engineering curriculums (ex. PLTW Aerospace) and the builds take place in the classroom lab area during regular hours. Students are graded, most receive dual academic credit, and above all, students are held accountable for attendance, conduct, level of participation, and knowledge base.
Community and education partnerships are the supporting pillars of the program’s success. Eagle’s Nest Projects is partnered with Project Lead the Way, the nations leading provider of STEM curriculums, Embry-Riddle, the nations leading aeronautical university, and with a number of other aerospace and engineering-based education organizations. Community partnerships include school districts, municipal airports, local businesses, and hundreds of individuals who volunteer their time as mentors. If you missed it in the above captioned video, ABC Channel 13 News was so inspired by the great work at Montgomery high school that they reached out to Southwest Airlines and announced in the video (surprise to us all) that SWA has offered their support and intern opportunities to Eagle’s Nest build students. When you think it just can’t get any better, a new community partner joins in support of the program with new and exciting opportunities for Eagle’s Nest build-students to further empower them on a pathway of leadership and a productive life.
Acknowledgment / Montgomery HS Mentor Team-
Jennifer Duffer, PLTW Aero Instructor, Joe Waltz, Project Director, Don Colchin, Brent Crabe, Jimmy Crawford, Gerry Farek, Denny Irvine, Chuck Lekron, Jim Pohoski, Sam Ward, and Clay Watters
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