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Take Flight

In school year 2024–2025 LHS launched a new class in which students learned about aviation and built a plane. This exciting opportunity was described as “project-based learning at its finest.”

Superintendent Amy Allen brought an RFP from the New Hampshire Aviation Museum to LHS Principal Ian Smith and Director of Curriculum Bonnie Robinson in November 2023. We applied, were selected, and began planning through our partnership with the Aviation Museum and Tango Flight. Take Flight was a 3-credit class that met for a double period throughout the year and was open to students in grades 10, 11, and 12. There was a great deal of student interest, and ultimately, 14 students were selected through an application and interview process. Tom Moore and Bo Harwood co-taught the program.

A three-bay garage behind the LHS track was designated for the workshop. Facilities Director John Kerber and his team cleaned out the space, repaired walls, replaced lighting, added an inventory room, and painted to create a bright, open environment, which became known as the Hangar. The Aviation Museum spearheaded a fundraising campaign, and the community was very generous in its support of Take Flight.

Dan Weyant of Tango Flight visited the Hangar in August and provided a two-day training for volunteers. Since its inception, thirty-eight high schools in the United States had undertaken this opportunity, and a hallmark of all of them was the involvement of community mentors supporting students throughout the process. We were very fortunate at LHS to have recruited a top-notch group of individuals who worked alongside our students each day.

The program was designed to be self-sustaining. Once the airplane was completed, it was to be sold, with the proceeds used to purchase the next kit. We were grateful to the Aviation Museum, Tango Flight, SAU 88, and the community for their support of this unique opportunity.

We sent occasional updates about the program’s progress, which you can access below.

If you had any questions, comments, or wished to volunteer, please email Bonnie Robinson at brobinson@sau88.net. We were also happy to add interested parties to our mailing list to receive updates directly.

We have an ongoing collaboration with Junction Arts Media (JAM) in White River Junction, Vermont, and Mike Cannon has released the first two episodes of the Take Flight documentary.

This link will take you to current and past issues of the Take Flight newsletter.