30 Dec Miramar and SAFEE Flight Take Center Stage To Show Community Youth How To Fly in STEM and aviation

In this final News U Can Use story for 2017, we are proud to share with you a story about a city, a not for profit Aviation education and outreach engagement program, and over 2000 students who assembled at the newly constructed amphitheater in the city of Miramar, to be exposed to aviation, and educated on opportunities in the aviation industry. And for the participating adults, the Miramar Aviation EXPO provided parents, educators, and industry professionals, a chance to learn how to become more effective “Wings” to student’s who will need proper guidance on careers in and the aviation industry.

This Aviation EXPO gathering of students, parents, educators, industry and government agencies on December 1st and 2nd, we believe, will contribute significantly to ensuring the growth of a talented and diverse STEM workforce in the state of Florida. Congratulations go out to SAFEE Flight, its dedicated team of volunteers, and the City of Miramar for this Team Approach to the Success of Miramar’s Future Workforce.

Elementary, middle and high school students participated in hands-on interactive displays on– Drones, and Drone Sims, Aircraft Flight SIMs and NASA Smarts Skies SIMs, Static Displays, Helicopter rides and a KID Zone area where students as young as elementary school, to Juniors and Seniors in Highschool were afforded a tour guide of information and exposure to aviation and the industry of aeronautics.

Support of the Mayor’s Aviation EXPO was made possible by the generous support from corporations like Spirit Airlines, AAR Corp., Boeing, Signature, JetBlue, Richard P. Hall Eagles Foundation, Inc., South Florida Aviation Maintenance Council, Greater Miami Aviation Association, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida Memorial University, Miami-Dade College, Broward College, Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport recognize the importance of contributing to the future workforce of the Aviation industry. According to Miramar’s Mayor Wayne Messam, “we must ensure that we are exposing the future generation of aviators and aviation professionals to the many STEM career opportunities the region has to offer. I encourage all schools and the community to participate.”

I Believe I Can Fly

The entire SAFEE Flight story is grounded in a belief that young people can become what they see and learn about. So, this summer, Darrell Roberts, SAFEE Flight Expo Founder, launched several Aviation camps throughout the South Florida region. For two of those weeks this summer, The City of Miramar hosted a Drones Summer camp, again, produced by the SAFEE Flight EXPO Team. Each of these camps always had team members from a dedicated group, of nearly eighty SAFEE volunteers. Many who would take off from their jobs to expose students to the Drones industry, and in concert with agencies like the FAA, and partnering organizations like OBAP, (Organization of Black Airline Pilots), LAPA (Latino American Pilots Association), and many more organizations provided information on air traffic regulations and emerging policies currently being developed to regulate the soon to be $25 Billion dollar Drones industry. One of those volunteers, an FAA retired executive Loretta McNeir had this to say about the impact she believes the Miramar Mayor’s Aviation Expo is making on the young attendees;

“The Kid zone was an area that ignited the imagination of a multitude of kids that attended the Miramar Air Show. The EXPO definitely allowed the kids from 6 to 11 years of age to express their Aviation interests”. It was quite amusing to see how many disappointed faces we turned away who were over 11. Even the older kids wanted some of this Kid zone action”. The quality of the LEGO aircraft models made by the students over the weekend showed how much knowledge youth of this age already possess regarding various aircrafts.” Loretta concluded her assessment of the EXPO by saying, “it gives us reason to be hopeful regarding the future aviators of tomorrow. I was blown away observing the skills and precision shown by the students in building various aircraft models. The Kid zone was indeed a highlight of the expo”.

A STEM Aviation Education Ready To Launch

When OGTV first encountered SAFEE EXPO in April 2015, Darrell Roberts, SAFEE Flight Founder, and OGTV Founder, Keith Moore met in a Signature Airplane Hangar where nearly 4,000 students, educators, parents, aviation industry, government agencies and community stakeholders convened for a two-day Aviation EXPO. Since last April, we have witnessed the SAFE Flight EXPO grow beyond the Signature Hangar at the Opa Locka Airport in Florida to receive invitations from other communities like Pompano City, in addition to the invitation by the City of Miramar to impact the lives of parents, educators, students and aviation industry partners. It is becoming increasing clear that SAFEE Flight is fast becoming the go-to community based organization to effectively provide exposure to youth in South Florida to careers as an air traffic controller, airplane mechanics, airline fueler, software developer, inflight training, technician positions, customer relations, and to learn how to become a flight attendant, security agents, airline firefighters, field service. From all assessments, the Mayor’s Aviation EXPO, in partnership with SAFEE Flight EXPO, was a unique interactive success for students throughout Broward and Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

So what’s next for SAFEE Flight EXPO? At the start of 2018, SAFEE will launch a new PLANES program and the planning for the annual April SAFEE Flight EXPO that has seen upwards of 5,000 students, parents, educators, industry and government agencies convene at the Signature Hangar in Opalaka Florida. The first 25 students selected for the new SAFEE PLANES (Pilots Licence to Attain New Elevations in ) year-round Pilot certification program will be announced at the April EXPO.

For more information on how you can support SAFEE EXPO and its future programming, email kmoore@opengovtv.com. There is still time to book your reservation to contribute to a STEM workforce and the future of our aviation industry.

OGTV would like to thank the AV and media production company, Innovative Minds for the production design work that made this EXPO possible, and O.J. Callahan for their contribution of photos for this article. A tremendous credit to small businesses in South Florida who use a Team Approach to help the next generation to fly.

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