This article was written by Jeff Holland. Questions for the author can be sent to jaholland35@gmail.com.
Seeing a year-long project taking flight was a rewarding and fulfilling endeavor for the Bartow County Model Aviation (BCMA) Club. Located about 60 miles northwest of Atlanta, BCMA has been a member of AMA since 1987 and, in the past year, was promoted to a Gold Leader Club.
BCMA’s outreach with the Woodland Middle School (WMS) STEM program wrapped up with a private fly-in on May 14-15, 2025. After building their RC model airplanes, the eighth graders, with BCMA’s guidance, saw their creations soar at BCMA’s Kingston Downs flying site.
BCMA’s volunteer efforts with WMS were launched courtesy of a Take off And Grow (TAG) grant from AMA.
In 2023, BCMA was made aware of a desire by WMS to have an aviation-themed STEM program for the 2024-2025 school year. This was in preparation for the upcoming school year, and BCMA reached out to AMA to inquire about any type of grant or assistance available that might be a help to this end. BCMA was made aware of the TAG grant that is available through AMA and applied for it that year.
In May of 2024, the club members learned that BCMA was awarded a $1,000 TAG grant.
After discussions with WMS, the club decided to use the $1,000 TAG grant to purchase building materials and supplies to build two model aircraft during the ’24-’25 school year.
Four BCMA members went to WMS once or twice per week for the entire school year to instruct the students on building two model aircraft. The aircraft that were built were a Great Planes PT-40 trainer kit and a PT-60 trainer kit (donated by BCMA club members). The students had to be instructed on basics, such as modeling equipment and tools, safety around cutting instruments, adhesives, and general construction techniques. Also, students had to learn mathematics, such as fractions and units of measurement.
In all, there were about 90 eighth graders involved in this outreach, which spanned the first and second semesters of the STEM class.
"The purpose of this partnership is to make connections with our community partners," said Stacy Smith, WMS STEM teacher. "The more connections our students make with different community partners, the more it benefits their futures when they are out in the workforce. They can give the students invaluable information and insight that cannot be gained from the classroom alone. The students can rely on these community partners for internships, mentoring programs, and even future employment. Working with community partners is a great way to expose students to different career opportunities that are out there that they may not know exist. Students worked on the planes one day a week and then moved to do days a week to make sure they were completed by the deadline. Students used the blueprints in the kits and the printed instructions to help them build the model airplanes."
Smith provided more details about what this entailed: "Students would read the instructions out loud to each other and then decide what they were to do next with the instructors there to help guide them. There were two groups of students. One group worked on the PT-40, and the other group worked on the PT-60. Both planes were covered in red, navy, and white to match the school colors. They also had our school's STEM logo and the BMCA club logo on the planes."
Prior to last week's event, WMS eighth-grader Kate Lyle joined her classmates in building the planes. "This consisted of cutting, drilling, gluing, and sanding the pieces," Lyle said. Flying the planes was "more challenging" than she expected, Lyle recalled, noting it was helpful to have BCMA members on hand, imparting advice.
"What I enjoyed most about flying was probably working with the men from BCMA," Lyle stated. "They helped me gain knowledge on this area that I didn't know previously. My favorite moments were probably messing up and turning too hard but knowing that the instructor that I was flying with would be there to help me out. They were great about helping to show me every time I got confused and needed help."
Through this partnership with BCMA, Lyle shared that she has gained knowledge on how these airplanes operate. "I also know how much work, effort, and detail goes into such a small-scale aircraft," she said. "I just want to thank BCMA for volunteering their time and coming to the school to work with us to share all they know to expand the hobby that they love."
Through their project with WMS, BCMA enjoyed helping spur an interest in model airplanes with the younger generation.
Forty-four of the WMS STEM students participated in last week's private fly-in. "The instructors went over safety first with the students," Smith said. "Then, they went over the basics of how the controls worked. They were using a buddy box. Students would be controlling the planes, but if the student got into any type of trouble, the instructor could take over at any time with their instructor transmitter. Each flight was an average of 6 to 7 minutes. The students flew both of the planes that they built, but there were also two extra planes there for them to fly in order to get extra flights in. This allowed students to be able to fly an average of three to four times."
Smith was delighted that WMS students were able to take part in this field trip and receive hands-on instruction from BCMA. "I think this field trip is what STEM is all about—being able to take what you have learned and worked on in the classroom and applying that knowledge in the 'real world,'" she said. "Students can take these collaborative, critical thinking, practical skills and apply them to just about any career they are thinking of going into."
"These students had to communicate with each other each time they worked on the planes and when they were flying with the instructors," she continued. "Communication is another important skill to have when applying for a job. The students did an amazing job when flying their planes. I was extremely proud of how respectful they were on the field trip and how well they were able to fly the planes. They might have been a bit apprehensive at first, but once they started flying, they were so excited."
Among the students attending was Clayton Brock, who found the field trip to be a "fun" experience. "I liked how easy it was to control the planes," he said. "My favorite moment was watching the planes take off."
Through this project, Brock's classmate Nate Maxwell "gained invaluable knowledge about airplanes." "It was fun and interesting because they told us cool facts about the airplanes," Maxwell said about the private fly-in. "It was easier than I thought it was going to be. Turning was my favorite part about flying because it took patience. My favorite moments were working together with my peers."
Smith extended thanks to the BCMA members for their assistance in this project.
"I am very thankful for the opportunity that was given to WMS by BCMA," Smith said. "I cannot thank them enough for the grant and all of the volunteer hours that went into this project. I want to give a special thanks to Mike, Richard, and Duane for all the long hours they spent in my classroom. This was an invaluable experience for my students. I know many of my students will treasure this memory, and they thoroughly enjoyed the field trip."
As a club, BCMA was thrilled to be able to invest our time and effort into the students at WMS over the past school year. The expression on their faces was thanks enough when they were flying the airplanes.
