Lancaster ISD Students Take An Inside Look at Southwest Airlines
BY STEPHANIE HOLMES
LANCASTER HIGH SCHOOL
LANCASTER-Lancaster ISD students in the BI60 STEM Camp visited the Southwest Airlines HDQ and Southwest Airlines Dispatch Center in Dallas, TX for a tour.
The tour served as a real-time connection to the concepts they are currently learning in the classrooms this summer. Lancaster ISD K-12 STEM Science Instructional Coach, Kenya Wilson explained how the visit connected to what students had been studying.
“The discussions with the airplane dispatcher centered on the importance of communication and problem-solving, which students immediately related to the PBLs they experienced in their classrooms,” she said.
The students marveled at the décor that started from the lobby and flowed throughout the entire building. The entrance featured miniature airplanes in different colors and sizes hanging from the ceiling, posters and drawings.
While on the tour, they viewed numerous rooms and offices and, according to the students, not one room was like the other. Each room has its own theme or name with different furniture and colors. Students also entered the viewing room where, through a window, they saw the airlines network operations command, or NOC, room. Here, they witnessed dispatchers, crew schedulers, and customer service coordinators hard at work.
Wilson also shared that, “the benefit of the Southwest HDQ tour was that it demystified the airline industry. Their unique people first culture enabled our students to see the humanitarian aspect of engineering and mechanics.”
This summer, the BI60 STEM Camp attendees have also visited the Frontiers of Flight Museum and drove go-carts where they used the facility’s garage to compare the go-carts to the structural components of the racecar they are currently building.
The summer camp, which is a partnership with Captain Barrington Irving and Experience Aviation, is in its third and final session and will conclude with the students unveiling the full-size racecar that they have been building all summer.
The BI60: Flying Tiger Race and Reveal will take place August 22, 2014 from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. at Texas Motorplex located at 7500 U.S. 287 Ennis, Texas 75119. This event is FREE and open to the public. For more information, call 972-218-1451.
The Lancaster Public Schools serve more than 6,000 pre-kindergarten through grade 12 students in 11 schools. The mission of the Lancaster Independent School District, a leader in providing innovative, quality programs, is to educate every student with the knowledge; skills; and principles to succeed and contribute in a competitive and technologically advancing world by providing rigorous and engaging learning opportunities that promote diversity; create an environment of integrity and respect; and establish a commitment to continued improvement in partnership with families and community.
