Flying Classroom visits Catholic Schools of Brooklyn and Queens!
Students apply STEM+ to Help Historic Pilot Acquire Learjet to Explore the World of STEM+!
The Flying Classroom soared into town to give Catholic School students from the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens a bird’s eye view of the aircraft and meet the pilot and STEM ‘mission’ teachers they have worked with via Zoom for the past 2 years.
The fly-in took place on May 18th, at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, NY. The experience continued with classroom visits on May 19-20th. See how classroom and real-world learning came together for our students here: https://youtu.be/9Tspj55aA9s
Captain Barrington Irving, Guinness World Record holder for being the youngest person and first African American pilot to fly solo around the world at age 23 is the founder of the Flying Classroom. The curriculum, allows students to experience the world of STEM+ based on expeditions conducted around the world. Elementary, Middle, and High School students within the Catholic Schools of Brooklyn and Queens experienced over 30 different expeditions which brings Science, Literacy, and Math to life.
Every Flying Classroom expedition allows students to Engage in real-world relevant content. They explore academic standards and innovate with very unique hands-on activities including project-based learning and engineering design challenges.
High School Students from Cathedral Prep received a chance to participate in a very special project. They helped Flying Classroom and Capt. Irving purchase their next aircraft by completing weeks of research analyzing the top three aircraft options. They applied math, science, and financial literacy to decide the best aircraft option for Capt. Irving. Students participated in the business aviation transaction and applied STEM+ to make the best decision. The project culminated with the Cathedral Prep students meeting Capt. Irving, seeing the Learjet 40XR aircraft in person and taking an AMAZING STEM+ flight. Some of the students will have opportunities for scholarships and internships.
Capt. Irving says the best part about the visit is spending time with students at the airport and within the Catholic schools of Brooklyn and Queens. Flying Classroom believes anyone can achieve their highest self through STEM+.
Students from several selected elementary Catholic Academies and Schools met Captain Irving for the first time, toured the plane then had a special VIP experience at the American Airpower Museum at Republic Airport, Farmingdale, NY.
Superintendent Tom Chadzutko said “Catholic School Support Services, with the support of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Trust and the Diocese have committed to making STEM programs a priority in our schools. We have invested over $2 million dollars over the past 3 years to offer Flying Classroom in 13 of our Catholic Academies and Parish Schools and Cathedral Prep HS.”
Flying Classroom began providing innovative science and STEM lessons to 7 of the Catholic Academies and Parish Schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn in 2020. The partnership has grown to 13 schools, and about 3,000 students have participated in science ‘expeditions’ via Zoom. This was the first opportunity for the special Flying Classroom mission instructors to meet the students in person.
Learn more about Catholic Schools in Brooklyn and Queens:
https://catholicschoolsbq.org/
About the FlyingClassroom.com
The Flying Classroom is a PK-12 integrative STEM+ supplemental curriculum. While Flying Classroom includes standards and principles aligned to STEM, it also includes activities correlated to geography, informational literacy, writing, art, and social studies. Students work to develop critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity skills as they navigate the expedition content. Each of the lessons within the Flying Classroom is based on the global expeditions of Captain Barrington Irving.
What sets the Flying Classroom apart from other STEM educational products?
First, the Flying Classroom is based on the global adventures and expeditions of Captain Barrington Irving. Barrington Irving became the youngest person (and first African American) to fly solo around the world at the age of 23. Secondly, the Flying Classroom is a STEM circular tool that leads teachers through implementing relevant STEM integrative instruction with students. The Flying Classroom’s curriculum is cutting-edge and real-time. With an average of three-five months from filming the expedition to the upload of completed expedition lessons, Lead Explorers (Teachers) can access and investigate current global challenges aligned to national and state Science and Math standards. Lastly, the Flying Classroom provides the opportunity for students to engage in engineering design challenges that impact our-ever changing global society, enhancing the relevancy of the content and conceptual understanding of students.