(From left) Nido, Tylia Smalley and Fanta Toure listen to instructors talk about the mechanics and engineering of a helicopter. MARIA S. YOUNG / TIMES PHOTO
When he grows up, John Solano, an eighth-grader at St. Martin of Tours School, wants to be a doctor … maybe. Classmate Gabrielle Naranjo also has a medical career in mind, a natural inclination perhaps for a math/science lover and the daughter of a chemist.
But after spending a week of their summer studying aviation at AgustaWestland’s helicopter factory in the Far Northeast, Solano and Naranjo have a lot more options to consider, some intriguing and potentially lucrative options for sure.
“After school, I want to be a dermatologist. But after coming here, I’m thinking about it,” said Naranjo of a potential career in aviation. She was one of about a dozen St. Martin’s honors students chosen for the inaugural camp that spanned from Aug. 10 to 14.
“If we could inspire just one of these kids to go into the aeronautics industry, it’s a win-win for everybody,” said Chuck Pavonarius, the lead teacher at St. Martin’s. “AgustaWestland wins and the kids win because they can get into a job they know they’re going to enjoy.”
A corporate donation of $100,000 from Agusta to St. Martin’s, a former archdiocesan grade school in Oxford Circle now managed by Independence Mission Schools, was the catalyst for the week-long program. Agusta awarded the donation to BLOCS (Business Leaders Organized for Catholic Schools) and earmarked the full amount for St. Martin’s.
“We felt the school was serving an underserved population. And it’s in Northeast Philadelphia. It’s our community,” said Lauren Slepian, the company’s communications specialist.
Agusta also received tax credits through the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit initiative, which allows companies to underwrite private, parochial or alternative public school tuitions for students residing in districts with low-performing public schools.
“As a continuation of that (donation), we made a commitment to wrap around the school, to bring students and teachers here,” said Kim Piersig, Agusta’s senior manager for exterior relations and communications. “Eventually, we want these kids to consider this a place to work after they get out of school, or to consider a career in aviation.”
“We thought it was perfect for a summer camp, to have the kids come in here,” said Ron Durr, Agusta’s chief ground instructor. “They’re at the perfect age to take advantage of the tactile experience and the technology. … Another good thing about having kids here is spreading the word about civil aviation. There’s plenty of room in the field.”
Agusta’s Corporate Social Responsibility Committee worked with administrators and faculty at St. Martin’s to develop a syllabus with modules emphasizing principles like the fundamentals of flying, aeronautic design, lean manufacturing, human resource skills and, perhaps most important of all, teamwork. According to Piersig, a prevailing theme in pre-camp student surveys seemed to be their reluctance to work in partnership with one-another. But in the real world, the sum is always greater than the individual parts.
“We wanted to make it relevant to the classroom (lessons) and to explore different areas of science and math,” Pavonarius said. “It’s just an awesome experience because the kids get to see lean manufacturing at work. They get to see how to organize things. They’re learning things that are going to help them be successful in life.”
The work week began on Monday when Agusta’s human resources folks delivered an introduction and conducted job interviews with the students. There was a tour of the company’s 39-acre campus on the outskirts of Northeast Philadelphia Airport and some instruction on the basics of flight.
On Tuesday, the focus shifted to Agusta’s specialty, helicopters, with hands-on tutorials on the AW139, the company’s versatile 15-seat, twin-engine model operated by military forces, police agencies and private industries around the globe.
That afternoon, the company’s pilots took the youngsters for a spin on the state-of-the-art aircraft, demonstrating basic maneuvers and doing a fly-by of St. Martin’s. That was the really fun part for the novice aviators.
Solano had only flown twice before, on an airplane during his family’s visit to Ecuador in July. He had never been on a helicopter.
“I’ve just seen them in the sky at the beach,” he said.
Narango was a true rookie, but an enthusiastic one: “One time I went to Canada and got real close to getting on one but it was real expensive. (This) was a lot of fun. Everybody else was real scared, but I was like, ‘Let’s get on!’ ”
During the rest of the week, the campers used their new-found lean manufacturing principles to build their own model copters from Lego blocks. They refined their design capabilities with a paper airplane competition based on a program developed by NASA. They spent Friday on a field trip to the American Helicopter Museum in West Chester.
Ideally, the collaboration between school and corporation won’t end there.
“We thought if we could test out some of these modules, there would be opportunities to take these programs into the classroom next year,” Piersig said, “working along with (our) instructors and the St. Martin’s staff where they incorporate some of these resources into their curriculum, making some of this math and science come to life in a way that will engage these kids.” ••
Learning to fly: Above, Joe Wills, a maintenance ground instructor with AgustaWestland Philadelphia, teaches students about a computerized control assembly. MARIA S. YOUNG / TIMES PHOTO
A lesson in aviation: John Solano, an eighth-grader at St. Martin of Tours School, gets hands-on experience with wiring at AgustaWestland while attending a summer camp at the helicopter facility. MARIA S. YOUNG / TIMES PHOTO
