Discussion:

Matthew Macelt conducts an aerospace question and answer session before the children build their paper aircraft for flight.

Crawford:

Bob Crawford shows the kids how to make their paper aircraft.

Landing on carrier:

Principal Mary Watry watches the kids’ prowess as pilots as they attempt to land their aircraft aboard an aircraft carrier deck in the classroom.

Meghan:

Anne Barba awards Meghan, 11, her Junior Naval Aviator wings.

Tossing planes:

Hancock Elementary School science class students give their aircraft a chance for one last flight before the class ended for the day.

Kids taught the basics of flight by NADEP engineers

Story by Bill Bartkus
Photos by Joe Feliciano
NADEP North Island

Fuselage. Horizontal tail. Vertical tail. Thrust. Airfoil. G-force.
These are familiar terms to aeronautical engineers. But to fifth-graders?
In the Science Enrichment Class at Hancock Elementary School in San Diego’s Tierrasanta Navy Housing area, these are words and terms that are familiar to the 35 youngsters in the class. They also know about lift, drag, weight, wing, and more thanks to mentor engineers from Naval Air Depot North Island.
“It is such a pleasure to work with kids who are so interested in science,” said Sandi Wong-McKellips, Code 4.3.4.7, who has lead the Depot’s Science Enrichment Program through Partners in Education with Hancock for the past many of the 11 years. Wong-McKellips, the mother of two young daughters, said that she and her fellow mentors visit the class semi-monthly while school is in session. Their experiments have included projects in geology, hovercraft, bubbles, and rockets.
This day the kids were even more excited because the experiment was all about aerospace. What makes planes fly? What makes them go up and down? Turn right? Turn left? How do they fly at the same level?
To open, Wong-McKellips reviewed the students’ previous class (bubbles) by holding a short question and answer session. “We always review the previous class work before delving into the next assignment,” she said.
Matthew Macelt, Code 4.3.3.1, led the class discussion for the aerospace experiment. “We discussed the basic components of the airplane, basic forces on the aircraft, and how the wings generate lift. We talked about the basic science involved in how aircraft fly.”
Holding a model of an F/A-18, Macelt, who has been mentoring for three years, began the class with chalk talk. He asked the kids questions relative to flying a tactical aircraft. “What causes drag? What causes lift?,” he asked. Eager hands quickly went up as enthusiastic students stood, stated their names and answered all of Macelt’s questions correctly.
After chalk talk, Macelt and the Depot’s other mentors for this particular experiment – Anne Barba, Code 4.3.3; Bob Crawford, Code 4.5.3; Chris Eveland, Code 4.3.4; Wong-McKellips sat down with the students and taught them how to make two types of paper planes. Each received two sheets of paper with a schematic, and the mentors showed the kids how to fold each sheet that formed a type of tactical fighter. All this was done under the watchful eyes of cameras from five different TV stations.
Kimberly King, a reporter for San Diego’s KNSD-TV (NBC) went live during two segments of the station’s 10 a.m. newscast, and she spoke with Wong-McKellips and several students. After her second segment when she tagged off the air and cut back to the studio, the two news anchors there had made paper planes of their own and were “flying” them in the studio.
Once the kids made their planes, they had to test them at three different stations. “I guess we’re test pilots,” quipped one excited student.
Tossing their planes across the room to see how far they would fly, landing on a makeshift carrier deck, and hitting a target by tossing the planes at a bull’s eye drawn on a board were the “flight operations”.
Paper planes were flying this way and that way as each group of students took their positions at the stations. “This is soooooooo cool,” shouted Brett, 11, as his plane flew the furthest across the room to hit the opposite wall. Brett, whose father is in the U.S. Air Force, plans to be a biologist and a hockey player. “I want to do both jobs,” he said.
Hancock Principal Mary Watry echoed Wong-McKellips’ feelings about students being so interested in science. “Young children need to know that in order to get ahead in today’s technical world, they need both science and math to get ahead,” Watry said. “I’m grateful to the Navy for being such excellent role models in the partnership program.”
Hancock’s fifth grade science class is so popular that it’s filled to capacity. Not everyone who registers for the class is admitted because seating is limited. Several students said that they had to enter a drawing first. “My class had to put our names in a hat, and the teacher drew our names,” said one youngster who was happy to be in the class “for the thrill of learning science.” There is also a waiting list. “If one child moves out of the area, the next student on the waiting list may enroll in the class,” said Watry.
The Navy’s mentoring program goes back more than 20 years when the Navy inaugurated a program to instill in young peoples’ minds the advantages of learning math and science. Since that time, thousands of Sailors, civilians have mentored youngsters in their classrooms hoping to encourage them to enter scientific fields or teaching when they choose a path later in life.