“It amazes me how much you can do in this class,” said eighth-grader Rafella Garcia.
That’s because Flight Simulator training is just one of the many hands-on opportunities you can find in Jacob Smith’s Principles of Applied Engineering Class at Eisenhower Middle School. There’s 3-D printers, lathe machines, LEGO bricks, and all kinds of ways to play as you learn. But the flight simulator is the newest tool helping North East ISD students get in-class experience that prepares them for the future.
“I am thinking about the Marines, the Navy or maybe even the Air Force and learning how to fly the jets helps me,” said Garica. “It opens my eyes to other experiences, and it also helps me see if you can do this, you have an advantage.”
Eighth-grader Emerick Moreno comes from a family of engineers, so he jumped at the opportunity to learn all he could about engineering. He wanted to make his family proud, but along the way he also found a new passion. “It’s phenomenal, it’s very heart-pounding, and it makes your adrenaline pump,” said Moreno.
And classmate Yusef Mused might have just found his calling. “I am thinking about being a pilot, it’s really fun.”
The flight simulator was made possible with a grant from the North East Educational Foundation. Smith has even more plans for the future, hoping to help the program grow bigger in the years to come.
