When hot summers roll around in Oklahoma, attending summer camp might be the farthest thing from one’s mind. But not this summer, for several area 7th and 8th graders, as the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center and Metro Technology Center Aviation Campus partnered for their 11th consecutive year in hosting two Aviation Career Education (ACE) Camps. Two one-week camps were held the week of June 6th and June 20th. Pete Lee, the 18-year Director of Metro Technology Center’s Aviation Career Campus describes the annual event, “Our goal is not for these young people to make a career decision right now, but our purpose is to raise their awareness of the array of possibilities of careers in the aerospace industry. The camp provides them with a perspective that later when they are in high school or perhaps college that may light the path to some facet of an aerospace career.”

The camp is made possible by a grant from the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission (OAC). Laura Shepherd-Madsen (AMC-3), Camp Co-Chair explains, “This is a wonderful partnership among everyone involved. The funding comes from OAC, the physical facility, transportation & supplies are provided by Metro Tech, and the Aeronautical Center provides aviation expertise through a variety of resources from volunteer employees.” The camp’s schedule is certainly not for the sedentary, as each day the kids are conducting hands-on experiments, embarking on field trips, or learning about the aviation industry from industry professionals. Being the 11th year of camp, camp counselors are already learning about personal success stories from camp alumni. Achievements such as students joining the Civil Air Patrol, earning their own Pilot’s License, starting employment with the FAA as air traffic controller, working for Boeing as an aerospace engineer, or getting a job as an airframe and power plant mechanic. The camp also partners with the Oklahoma Engineering Foundation (OEF). Adrianne Covington-Graham, Executive Director for the OEF states, “It really takes a village to ensure that every child in Oklahoma is exposed to the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education opportunities. OEF is so grateful to be able to partner with the FAA ACE Camp to give students a full week of discovery and hands on activities in the aviation and transportation industry,” said Covington-Graham. “When private, nonprofit, education, and federal agencies work together, the students and our future are the clear winners.”

This year over 70 camp applications were received. A Selection Committee was formed to review and rate each application. As the camp popularity continues to grow, the application process becomes more and more competitive as time and resources are limited. Special thanks to several Aeronautical Employee organizations for helping to provide extra funding support to help the camp – the National Hispanic Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees, the Native Alaskan Native American Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees, and the Aeronautical Center Employees Association are vital sponsors.

Aeronautical Center Director, Michelle Coppedge reinforces “This is such a great program.  I am continually amazed at the level and spirit of volunteerism at the Aeronautical Center.  It’s great to see evidence of these investments as they repeatedly contribute toward our workforce of the future. I don’t know who enjoys the camp more, our volunteers or the kids!” FAA’s aviation outreach programs began back in 1976, through an amendment to the Airport & Airway Development Act of 1970.  Public Law 94-353 helped to place greater emphasis on increasing the public’s knowledge of the dynamics of aviation and on the key role air transportation plays in improving our economic and social life, while informing young people about the possibilities of finding careers in air transportation systems and general aviation. The agency continues to meet the requirements of this Law by distributing aviation information via www.faa.gov/education  and by providing outreach programs like ACE Camp.

There were several “firsts” with this year’s camp. For the first time ever, there was a set of thirteen year old twins (Lauren and Cheyanne) who participated in camp. Lauren is disabled and uses a wheelchair. Unsure of how certain camp activities could be accommodated to fit her needs, everyone quickly adapted and was quick to pitch in or assist when needed. Fellow campers took turns pushing her wheelchair, and each of the counselors did whatever was necessary to ensure that Lauren’s participation was an insightful experience like the rest of the campers. Various organizations at the Aeronautical Center, as well as the staff at iFLY indoor skydiving, were more than accommodating to ensure that her disability would not prevent her from participating in the varied activities. Not only did she participate, but she achieved the best form and body position when it came to skydiving. As a reminder, the camp is open to children of FAA family members as well as youngsters from the general public. For those interested in applying for camp next year, please visit www.oef.org during the spring 2017 timeframe.

https://employees.faa.gov/tv/?mediaId=1390  Video courtesy of Barry Naples.

The twins’ mother commented, “I want to thank everybody involved with ACE for the outstanding job of making sure Lauren was included in everything possible at camp. Having Cerebral Palsy, she is quite often excluded from many things due to being in her wheelchair or walker which normally makes her sad. But because of your assistance and hard work she was included in everything at ACE. Lauren and her twin have very different personalities and interests with a couple of exceptions, one of which is their love for STEM! ACE was such an awesome opportunity for my girls to expand their knowledge of STEM and what is available for them professionally in the future, specifically in the aeronautics field. Again, thank you all for including my twins in this amazing program and they would love to attend again if they could.” The twins also chimed in, Cheyanne, who is typically reluctant to speak aloud said, “I really enjoyed being able to actually get to do interactive things, such as getting to fly the drones, and also being able to get out of the room for real life experiences instead of just looking at diagrams. The field trips to the fire station and IFLY were very fun, considering we didn't just sit in a room doing work assignments like at school. I'd also like to thank Ms. Laura for making me get out of my comfort zone a little bit! I had an amazing time at ACE Camp!!” Lauren, Cheyanne’s twin noted, “I enjoyed getting to do everything everyone else was doing without any issues unlike other interactive camps I've gone to where I may have had to sit out of things. I'd only ever played with robots and programmed before ACE camp so I only knew about the mechanical side of STEM, so it was awesome to leave camp knowing about so many different STEM jobs in the aviation field that I had never considered going into as a career before. Getting to experience things first hand and do things that most people won't ever get to do are all experiences I'll never forget and had an absolute blast my week there!”

There are no words to express what this experience was like, not only for Lauren, her twin, and the other campers, but for the counselors and observers as well. Besides being a fun and educational activity, everyone associated with camp this year learned that each of us are only limited by our imaginations and not necessarily our physical abilities.

As a reminder, the camp is open to children of FAA family members as well as youth from the general public.  For those interested in applying for camp next year, please visit www.oef.org during the spring 2017 timeframe.

Special congratulations to Pete Lee, Director of the Metro Technology Center Aviation Campus on his retirement and for investing over 18 years of service in sponsoring this camp. His dedication has helped hundreds of Oklahoma’s youth realize aviation as a possible career.