I think there are many points to be made about Science Olympiad.
First, it is a fact that only a small number of students who fly Wright Stuff will continue on to indoor. That's fine. Indoor Free Flight is one of many possible things that students pursue during their busy times as high school or middle school students. My own two kids don't fly free flight. They have their own lives that interest them.
Second: Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the number of students who continued, especially those who went on to the junior F1D team. Today, there's no better place to recruit junior fliers for the F1D team than the population of Science Olympiad students.
Third: Very very few students each year who participate in Wright Stuff actually are coached by Indoor Free Flighters and are exposed to the indoor community. When I started Wright Stuff in 2010, the San Diego middle school regional had about 70 teams. Not one of the teams was coached by an indoor free flighter. Surely, we can improve this. Last year, at most 10% of the teams had acceptably flying models. 90% of models stalled wildly or dove to the ground. At the very least, we can them.
Fourth: Although a student does not continue free flight, it doesn't mean that he or she may not one day return to it later in life. I started Indoor when I was 42 years old. Other prominent fliers did not start until they were in their 60's. All of us had some exposure to model aviation when we were young.
Fifth: We can use Wright Stuff as the platform to recruit coaches, teachers, and parents to free flight. Adults have more time for hobbies than high school students.
Sixth: By volunteering in Science Olympiad, you may meet school officials who will give you permission to fly your models at the gym.
Seventh: If you volunteer and meet today's students, you may get to know better this generation of kids, who in my opinion are much more resourceful than my generation.
Received on Mon Feb 15 2016 - 14:00:28 CET
This archive was generated by Yannick on Sat Dec 14 2019 - 19:13:48 CET