Flight, Space and Rockets Pay a Visit to a School in Milan

Students at Symons Elementary School had a unique educational experience recently after an alumnus of Milan Area Schools paid a visit along with some friends. This wasn’t the first time this former student did this, but it was the first time he brought a team from the Aerospace Engineering program from the University of Michigan.

Those who participated in this day were fourth graders at Symons – five classrooms/each with about 25 students – grand total of about 125 kids and six U of M students – Aerospace Engineering program — Eamonn, Suri, Zoe, Natalie, Daniel and Eric.

To learn more about the visit, the Sun Times News connected with Liz Miller, a fourth-grade teacher at Symons who knows the former student.

In explaining how the visit came about, Miller said, “Eamonn Reilly is a previous student of mine who was in my multiage classroom at Paddock about 20 years ago. He is a Milan High School graduate and is currently a Masters student at U of M studying Aerospace Engineering.”

The Team from the University of Michigan

“Eamonn has come to Symons the last couple of years to share his love of aerospace and aviation with my classroom and the fourth graders have loved the experience,” Miller said.  “This year, when Eamonn reached out to me about planning for another aerospace day, we wanted to include ALL of 4th grade.”

Making that happen, Eamonn recruited a team of six U of M students and together they taught the fourth graders about the aerospace engineering program at U of M along with a number of other specialty areas.

Flight Vehicles

Miller said Eric and Daniel specialize in flight vehicles and they shared a slideshow highlighting some of what they do – much of which is dealing with crashes of their remote control plane. She said they talked about epic fails which resulted in lessons learned, speedy rebuilds of complex vehicles, and making it to the event with a newly designed and built plane in just two days. 

They also flew a remote control plane and a helicopter in the gym while kids asked a million questions, Miller said.

“Eric and Daniel were clear and concise with replies and they were able to respond in a way that kids completely understood the complex ideas of flight,” Miller explained.

As part of some hands-on learning, Eamonn helped kids to color and build balsa wood gliders and demonstrated a hovercraft. Miller said the kids had a blast adding flags, geometric designs, rainbows, and their names to the gliders.

“They had learned that when a team designs and builds a flight vehicle, they will all sign their names, so many added important names to their gliders,” Miller said.

The experience and explanation about how engines and wings make flight possible was easy to understand for the fourth graders. Miller said the kids had a great time testing their gliders to see which flew the farthest, many making adjustments to their glider based on what they had been learning. 

Women in STEM

It wouldn’t be a fun science day without some STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Miller said Zoe’s area was all about women in STEM.

Her enthusiasm was contagious and the kids learned about what it means to be a ‘pioneer ’.

“Zoe taught students about women in early aviation, the field of technology, and those who worked with NASA,” Miller said.

Zoe shared an important timeline of the women and the critical work they did/are still doing today in the field of aerospace engineering. It was a fantastic way to celebrate “Girl Power” in this area, Miller said they were able to do by highlighting the impressive women and the work they have done/are doing to change the world of aerospace engineering.

The Final Frontier

It’s also not a science day without a little space thrown in.

Miller said Natalie had an interactive Cubesat show and tell. She taught from a slide with amazing photos of Cubesats, test flight balloons, and prototypes. Miller said the fourth graders were able to touch and ask questions about wires, Cubesats, parts and pieces of flight balloons, and other important pieces that were created as prototypes on a 3D printer. 

A Cubesat is defined as a small, standardized satellite used for space research and exploration. They are inexpensive to build and launch, and are often used by students and universities, like the University of Michigan.

“Natalie is a skilled teacher of her Cubesats and was able to explain in a clear and easy to understand way to the kids,” Miller said. “They asked many questions and she responded with examples, comparisons that they could understand, and lots of smiles and laughter. It is clear that she is passionate about this area of aerospace engineering and her enthusiasm transferred to the kids. They were thrilled to touch and explore the materials she brought to the classroom.”

Rockets

A big part of space education includes rockets and this where Suri came in for the final area of learning that day.

“Suri is a rocket expert,” Miller said. “She shared about rocket parts, rocket launches, and rocket explosions. We learned about ‘drag’ ‘nose cones’ and ‘hotfires’ and that the first rocket was a firework!”

Suri shared her excitement about launching rockets in the desert and kids were surprised with the variety of sizes of rockets, Miller said. Suri also shared about herself which made her relatable and quickly connected her to the students.

How’d It Go

STN asked Miller what are some takeaways from the visit.

She said, “These U of M students are passionate about aerospace engineering and generously made time in their busy schedules to come to Symons to share their enthusiasm and knowledge with 125 kids they don’t know. It clearly demonstrates their commitment to this area of study and sharing it with possible future engineers. They are experts and I appreciate their willingness to share with our 4th graders.”

Miller said much of what they shared is not only about aerospace – “it is about learning and having a growth mindset.”

“They spoke often of crashes, explosions, and failures and how they are not defeated at these times, but instead they are invigorated and lean into these teachable moments to pause and reflect, to make improvements, to reassess, to think and do differently,” she said. “They modeled a growth mindset by not giving up, but rolling up their sleeves to learn and do more. The talk inspired this old teacher and made me hopeful and grateful for people like our six presenters.”

Photos from the day are courtesy of Symons Elementary School