West Newsmagazine 11-15-17

20 I
November 15, 2017
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
@WESTNEWSMAG
WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
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Lakeside is looking for experienced and
educated teachers to join our team!
These are full time positions working with children ages 6 weeks through 12 years. Both Assistant Teacher
and Lead Teacher positions are available. Our teachers must be able to multi-task, know age appropriate
activities, communicate well with families and co-workers, and be flexible. Teachers must have a friendly,
positive attitude and must be nurturing with children. Lakeside offers competitive hourly wages and it is a
rewarding work environment.
Lakeside is celebrating 25 years in business this year and is family owned and operated.
To apply, send your resume to laura@lakesidechildrensacademy.com. Or, call Lakeside: 636-225-4800.
Please ask to speak to Laura, Director.
You must be at least 18 years of age and have a high school diploma. College degrees preferred.
1230 Dougherty Ferry Road | West St. Louis County 63088
www.lakesidechildrensacademy.com
Join us for a
Winter Festival
Friday, December 1, 2017
5:00 - 9:00 P.M.
ST. LOUIS CAROUSEL AT FAUST PARK
15185 OLIVE BOULEVEARD
CHESTERFIELD, MO 63017
A FESTIVE EVENING OF CAROLERS,
CARRIAGE RIDES, AUCTION ITEMS, AND HOLIDAY SPIRIT!
$55 FOR MEMBERS, $100 FOR TWO.
$75 FOR NON-MEMBERS.
REGISTRATION REQUIRED.
CONTACT US AT 636.532.3399
OR VISIT WWW.CHESTERFIELDMOCHAMBER.COM
The Cessna 182 single-engine aircraft provided by Wings of Hope for the Build & Soar collaboration
[Wings of Hope photo]
Wings of Hope collaboration helps
students soar toward STEM careers
By JESSICA MESZAROS
Wings of Hope, a Chesterfield-based
nonprofit, is raising the bar – or the wings
– when it comes to engaging students in
humanitarian efforts across the globe.
Thanks to a partnership with the nonprofit
Experience Aviation out of Miami,
Florida, students in Texas were afforded
the opportunity to rebuild a plane to be
used for humanitarian efforts in Central
America. Wings of Hope provided an operational
plane for students to rebuild as part
of a year-long STEM [science, technology,
engineering and math] endeavor called
Build & Soar.
Designed for middle and high school
students, the most recent Build & Soar
took place at Lancaster High near Dallas
from October 2016 through June 2017. It
marked the first collaboration between
Experience Aviation and Wings of Hope.
Experience Aviation’s founder, record-setting
professional pilot Barrington Irving, is
on Wings of Hope’s Honorary Council.
According to Wings of Hope CEO Bret
Heinrich, the collaboration is serving as a
best practice model to bring similar programs
to local school districts and Scout troops.
“Our goal would be to engage students
in our own hangar while working with airplanes,”
Heinrich said. “We think there’s
really an opportunity to excite kids about
STEM-related activities and aviation, and
we’re going to involve partners like the
Girl Scouts who will really be able to
encourage young ladies to explore this
field,” Heinrich said.
For the Texas Build & Soar project,
Wings of Hope supplied an operable,
30-year-old Cessna 182 single-engine aircraft.
According to Steve Long, director of
hangar operations, about 50 students participated,
making a dozen modifications
to the plane, such as removing and disassembling
the engine, equipping the plane
with landing and short takeoff gear and
broadening the plane’s tires to assist with
successful landings in areas without paved
landing strips.
According to Heinrich, about 90 students
applied for the program.
“Some of the students commented that
they, ‘initially went out for football, but
it wasn’t right for me, and engineering is
where I found that home,’” Heinrich said.
One goal of the program is to provide
students from low-income communities
with exposure to STEM and aviation
careers.
“A lot of the kids in the district lived in
the city, and they don’t get a lot of exposure
to things outside the city, especially
relating to aviation,” Long said. “They
can see airplanes flying overhead, but
the idea of touching one or working with
one would be the furthest thing from their
minds.”
The current, tentative plan is for the
plane to fly to Guyana and Nicaragua to
support Wings of Hope’s partner Adventist
World Aviation in providing emergency
and medical air transport to people living
in remote areas.
“It was chosen that the students would
work on an airplane that had a future of
helping others,” Long said. “So what they
did to that airplane wouldn’t stop with that
particular plane, but would go on. The
work they did isn’t going to sit in a garage
or in a hangar. It’s going to go and help
others.”
Wings of Hope has operated as a global
humanitarian charity since 1962. Its goal is
to help people and communities around the
world strive for health and self-sufficiency.
Wings of Hope has over 200 volunteers and
receives about 20 donated planes each year,
which allows about 90 cents of every dollar
donated to go back into programs.