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CSI meets aviation at STCC's College for Kids

Date: 7/1/2009

SPRINGFIELD While current economic conditions might reduce travel and enrollment in overnight camps, there is no reason for children in the Greater Springfield area to miss out on exciting summer learning opportunities right here at home.

Mary Breeding, director of the College for Kids Program at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC), has announced that many new courses will be offered during the program's 28th summer including Wright Flight Aviation. This course will teach students aviation history, basic ground schooling including instrument training for the Cessna 172 and will provide an introduction to careers in aviation. Major topics include aviation history, principles of flight, physical and mental preparation for flight training and instrument training on a Cessna 172 flight simulator in preparation for actually piloting an airplane.

The program emphasizes the importance of identifying and setting goals and maintaining high academic standards, especially in math and science. It also emphasizes high personal standards such as abstaining from drugs, alcohol and smoking. Participants who successfully complete this program will be able to attend the culminating activity of this program, Flight Day, which will take place at Barnes Airport. Course participants, accompanied by a certified flight instructor, will actually get to take-off and pilot a Cessna 172 Skyhawk and will also visit the control tower and learn from guest speakers from many areas of aviation.

Enrollments are now being accepted for this and almost 50 other courses including computer art, fashion design, Web page design, creative writing, interior design, microbiology and environmental studies, robotics, magic, nature photography, conversational Spanish, keyboard skills, drawing, painting, math, fantastic physics, "CSI Springfield," black holes and hyperspace, cartoon workshop, sculpture, desktop publishing and much more. Courses will take place July 13 through 23 and July 27 through Aug. 6.

Hundreds of children come to the STCC campus every summer to participate in the wide variety of learning opportunities designed for students in grades two to 11 and over 5,300 children have taken part in this program since it began in 1982. The program is celebrating its 28th anniversary this year and there are a limited number of need-based scholarships available.

Space is limited and interested individuals should go to http://cbt.stcc.edu or call the Center for Business and Technology at STCC at 755-4501 or 755-4225 for complete details.