I students learn airplane basics and study shop safety, tools, and blueprint reading. In Aircraft II and III, students use an engine manufacturer's manual as they disassemble, calibrate, and reassemble aircraft engines and learn about powerplant theory and application. And an airplane is the ultimate thing. Our society celebrates sports, not science, and that's why kids don't pour their time and enthusiasm into science. Kids get excited about sports, Kamen says, by seeing great athletes compete in events like the Super Bowl, not by viewing a museum exhibit on football.
Businesses help by giving engineers paid time off to work with student teams.
Kamen has little patience with businesses that try to tell schools how to educate. It's more about inspiration and role models. The program, for instance, features engineers who are women and minorities, as well as engineers who are young and love sports cars. About 20,000 fans cheered the championship teams in a specially built stadium at Disney World in Florida. Research shows, notes Schlief, that effective teacher mentoring programs can help recruit and retain teachers in the profession.