From staff reports
The sight of a helicopter landing at school most certainly would garner lots of reactions followed by many questions, and for John Paull II Catholic School middle school science teacher Rebekah Kane, that is exactly what she was hoping for when she asked Col. Neil Baxley to speak to her students about his career as a pilot last week.
Colonel Baxley is the aviation unit commander for the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
“He gave me the option between just visiting for a talk with the students or bringing the helicopter with him,” said Kane, who noted Colonel Baxley met her for a brief safety inspection and discussed some of the logistics, which included circling the JPII campus and rotating and hovering the helicopter. “He has spoken about his career as a pilot at schools all over Beaufort County and it was time for him to come see us at JPII.”
Although the entire middle school was invited, the perfect time for the visit was after the 8th grade students had completed the Flight and Space unit as part of the Project Lead The Way (PLTW) curriculum.
“Our students learned about forces of flight, different types of aircraft, aviation travel time, and the specific training involved in being a pilot or working aboard any aeronautical or space vehicle,” said Kane. “Having any opportunity to apply knowledge from the classroom to ‘real life’ is extremely valuable, and for most of them, this was probably the closest they’ve physically been to a helicopter. The 8th graders were happy when they were allowed to snap some pictures and videos on their phones as the helicopter was landing and taking off.”
