School Career Day

USMCmech

USMCmech

Well-Known Member
I somehow got roped into presenting at my kids school for career day. I need to speak for 15 minutes to a bunch of 5th and 6th graders about the job of a pilot.

Has anyone else here done this? I'll be covering all the jobs outside of the airlines, the basic training progression, some myths, what school subjects you need to be strong in. What else should I include?

I want to show them that most pilots only need basic math, but we need to apply those skills to real world problems very quickly. I'll demonstrate using an E-6B, sectionals, and some other show and tell stuff.
 
USMCmech said:
I somehow got roped into presenting at my kids school for career day. I need to speak for 15 minutes to a bunch of 5th and 6th graders about the job of a pilot.

Has anyone else here done this? I'll be covering all the jobs outside of the airlines, the basic training progression, some myths, what school subjects you need to be strong in. What else should I include?

I want to show them that most pilots only need basic math, but we need to apply those skills to real world problems very quickly. I'll demonstrate using an E-6B, sectionals, and some other show and tell stuff.
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I haven’t did any speaking yet but I’ve done career day where kids come around to different tables. I would do a PowerPoint, a good crutch to have while you’re speaking. Maybe make some paper airplanes if you’re good at it (I’m not), or have some wings or something to give out. It helps to engage the younger kids. Maybe have a paper panel of whatever you fly, or have it on the PowerPoint. I got a lot of questions about the buttons in the cockpit.
 
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USMCmech said:
I somehow got roped into presenting at my kids school for career day. I need to speak for 15 minutes to a bunch of 5th and 6th graders about the job of a pilot.

Has anyone else here done this? I'll be covering all the jobs outside of the airlines, the basic training progression, some myths, what school subjects you need to be strong in. What else should I include?

I want to show them that most pilots only need basic math, but we need to apply those skills to real world problems very quickly. I'll demonstrate using an E-6B, sectionals, and some other show and tell stuff.
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unfortunately nowadays they probably won't care, do you have a tablet with jepp pro or foreflight? Show them that.
 
Definitely spend some time going over the GOM and OpSpecs! They’ll totally dig that! :cool:

I think 5/6 graders are entering the period where they like to be cool and think they have inside knowledge about stuff. Maybe explain to them a few things that they wouldn’t otherwise know about, like why crew can bypass security, or what you’re doing while passengers are unloading, or how you get ride reports from ATC so you can warn them about turbulence, or what can happen when they don’t have their seatbelt on during turbulence, or how you can talk to a doctor in flight if there’s a medical emergency. Try to give them some “inside scoop” so they feel special.
 
The dudes here are so encouraging

15 mins isn't much. You are there to light the fire in their eyes, choose the words carefully - instead of "You will learn a lot about how the stuff works" (who wants to do that) "You will know a lot about how the stuff works" (yeah!), "You will go places" etc.
Touch both the technical savvy of it and the romance of flying and it'll be interesting for the wider audience. If a projector is available, have some pics on it - view out of the office window and such or play 'em "from the flight deck" YouTube video.
 
This sounds like the perfect opportunity to pollute their minds with things like aerobatics, bush flying, seaplanes, and gliders. Try to connect with the local EAA chapter and see when the next young eagles or pancake breakfast event will be. If anyone shows any interest, then they’ll be able to touch some airplanes next.
 
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CFI A&P said:
The sounds like the perfect opportunity to pollute their minds with things like aerobatics, bush flying, seaplanes, and gliders. Try to connect with the local EAA chapter and see when the next young eagles or pancake breakfast event will be. If anyone shows any interest, then they’ll be able to touch some airplanes next.
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People fly planes to get pancakes?
 
Just stick with a couple professions, if not just aviation.

The challenge that I always have is that the laid plans to talk through some topics quickly get derailed and you often end up talking about the lavatory and where it goes after the plane lands.

But I had some slides (it was the late 1990's) that i used to visualize each part of my day and kind of talked through it. Bring trinkets, kids love trinkets.
 
So, I went to one for kindergarten and 4th graders. The night before the event, i was told there's no way to do pics or presentations. So, I printed out some photos and brought in some old DC's, along with a few other items.

Kindergarten was awesome. Kids were attentive, and had some bizarre questions that escalated from "do you fly through tornadoes?" Overall, great time.

The 4th graders, I started with I've been to almost 60 countries, and 48 of the states, and went on my day in the life of an international corporate pilot.

Every single question, it seemed, was "have you been to New Orleans? I have relatives there." "Have you been to..." I finally shut those questions down with, other than Hawaii and Alaska, I've been to wherever you're going to ask.:)

So, my advice to you is don't fall into the "have you been to" trap!

Other than that, great advice from the other posters. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
 
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Stone Cold said:
So, I went to one for kindergarten and 4th graders. The night before the event, i was told there's no way to do pics or presentations. So, I printed out some photos and brought in some old DC's, along with a few other items.

Kindergarten was awesome. Kids were attentive, and had some bizarre questions that escalated from "do you fly through tornadoes?" Overall, great time.

The 4th graders, I started with I've been to almost 50 countries, and 48 of the states, and went on my day in the life of an international corporate pilot.

Every single question, it seemed, was "have you been to New Orleans? I have relatives there." "Have you been to..." I finally shut those questions down with, other than Hawaii and Alaska, I've been to wherever you're going to ask.:)

So, my advice to you is don't fall into the "have you been to" trap!

Other than that, great advice from the other posters. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
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Do you really want to know what's scary is that I participated in a career Q&A style event in Tokyo and the questions those 12 year old kids asked, in perfect English, were light years ahead of anything I was asked in the US.

Like comparing "Hey, where does the poo go and have you almost crashed once" compared to "How do you plan for fuel in a long range flight when the atmospheric conditions are dynamic".
 
Derg said:
Do you really want to know what's scary is that I participated in a career Q&A style event in Tokyo and the questions those 12 year old kids asked, in perfect English, were light years ahead of anything I was asked in the US.

Like comparing "Hey, where does the poo go and have you almost crashed once" compared to "How do you plan for fuel in a long range flight when the atmospheric conditions are dynamic".
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Yeah, this is a STEM school my kids go to and the teacher was embarrassed by the questions. Looking back, I could have talked less about places, but that's what we do is go places. At the time, I thought it was a good intro, but it really set up a bad q & a session.

I did include the line "don't let your teachers tell you nobody will pay you to look out the window, because that's exactly what I do." Of course, then I got the "how much do you make?" I said enough to travel 5,000 miles every month to go to work. ;)
 
Derg said:
Do you really want to know what's scary is that I participated in a career Q&A style event in Tokyo and the questions those 12 year old kids asked, in perfect English, were light years ahead of anything I was asked in the US.

Like comparing "Hey, where does the poo go and have you almost crashed once" compared to "How do you plan for fuel in a long range flight when the atmospheric conditions are dynamic".
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That's because in the US, ignorance and acting dumb is encouraged by your peers. Curiosity is frowned upon.
 
I've been out of school for "quite a while", if true, that's bad.
 
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