Education Through Aviation
AMA EDUCATION
PROGRAMS
By Kyle Jaracz, Education Director | kylej@modelaircraft.org
I want to share portions of a recent article that Gwen Mathis, AMA’s Education development coordinator, wrote for the Park Pilot publication in the hopes that seeing these resources might spur you to consider opportunities to share in your area.
Whether you discuss advanced flight techniques with experts or what sounds airplanes make to toddlers, the power of model aviation to inspire a love of flight is only limited by the number of individuals who choose to share their enthusiasm with others. Here are Gwen’s words:
AMA is a nonprofit community of enthusiasts that comes together to celebrate model aviation. AMA’s Education team considers educating people about model aeronautics to be its highest priority. The Education team handles curriculum development and management, Camp AMA, UAS4STEM (Sponsored by Skydio), the Heavy Lift Challenge, and scholarships with a focus on empowering our members to be advocates for model aviation within their communities.
The Education team provides a variety of resources to current and prospective members. The AMA Education Blog (https://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amaeducation) regularly updates readers about aviation-related topics, such as UAS4STEM (Sponsored by Skydio), the Heavy Lift Challenge, Camp AMA, educational lesson plans, and updates from other AMA teams.
The Education department also creates engaging and entertaining lesson plans, or Quick Projects, which introduce elementary-age students to various aviation concepts through building hovercraft, launching paper rockets that look like mice, cutting gliders out of foam plates, and folding flying origami turkeys, bats, and hearts!
The supplies required for Quick Projects are common household items that are easy to find, so any young aviator can do these activities in either an educational setting or easily at home for their own enjoyment. Quick Projects come with complete, detailed instructions to ensure that students can easily do the activity and remain engaged.
The Quick Project Flight School page also houses 10 General Mills paper cardstock World War II aircraft paper models, including the P-47, Mk-1, Fw 190, Fulmer, and Spitfire. These resources, as well as plenty of others, are available on the AMA Flight School website (www.amaflightschool.org).
The Education team is also responsible for sending the AMA ALPHA ($21.95) and AMA BETA ($29.95) to interested aviators. These Free Flight aircraft were designed by world-class aeromodeler Rob Romash to be the best kits of their kind. The AMA ALPHA and AMA BETA demonstrate aerodynamic principles through associated classroom lessons geared toward middle and high school aviators.
These durable models are built for both indoor and outdoor flying, are easy to assemble, and come with all of the necessary materials for building, including a winder for easier flight preparations. Both models can be found on the AMA Flight School website.
FPGs, or Foam Plate Gliders, are Free Flight gliders made from foam plates. The lesson plan and template to make your own FPG-9 can be found for free on the AMA Flight School website.
We are happy to put together a kit and send it to you! Kits include balsa gliders and educational handouts so that you can introduce your members or students to model aviation in a fun and engaging way. Educational handouts include information about the history and values of AMA and AMA Flight School. We might also throw in some AMA goodies.
If you are hosting an event and would like to introduce attendees to AMA and model aviation, please reach out and let us know at education@modelaircraft.org and we will work with you to ensure that you receive the necessary materials and resources.
We are able to offer these educational resources thanks to the help of our dedicated members through a variety of methods. Part of the AMA membership fees help to cover the AMA Education department’s outreach endeavors. The AMA Foundation also assists Education endeavors to provide these resources, thanks to direct donations from AMA members. The money we receive from the sales of ALPHAs and BETAs helps fund our educational outreach efforts as well.
Thank you, AMA members. Without you, AMA wouldn’t be able to help nearly as many others take flight and accomplish their dreams. Thank you all!
