January 2009

CONGRATULATIONS TO MADDIE R.!

It's official! The winner of this year's Adopt-A-Pilot Tie Design contest is Maddie R. in the Dallas, Texas, area. Her design became the foundation for the look of this year's Adopt-A-Pilot 2009 limited edition tie, worn by more than 650 Pilots throughout the Southwest system!

Maddie was a student in Susan Buchanan's class at Heritage Elementary (with "adopted" Pilot Captain Bill Stone) when she created her tie design entry. Her playful, colorful design celebrates the energy of the Adopt-A-Pilot program, with balloons and confetti set against a brilliant blue sky. The design also represents the education-meets-aviation spirit of the program, with children's hands pointing upward at a Southwest Boeing 737 passing overhead.

While a big CONGRATULATIONS goes to Maddie, a huge thank you goes to the more than 3,100 Adopt-A-Pilot students who submitted impressive entries last year. Southwest wishes to applaud all of you who applied your creative and artistic talents -- it was no easy task selecting just one winner.

Maddie was honored at a special school assembly this month (she's now in sixth grade at Briarhill Middle School), and the Dallas Morning News was among the media that covered the story of her accomplishment.

Thanks again to Maddie for her inspirational design, and remember to start sketching now -- you could be the winner of the upcoming Adopt-A-Pilot Tie Design contest!

AAP 2009 OFFICIAL TIE  

SOUTHWEST CEO GARY KELLY, MADDIE AND CAPT. BILL STONE

Plan Now for a Great Adventure

The holidays have just passed, and a new year is beginning. It's the perfect time to get prepped for your upcoming Adopt-A-Pilot adventure.

Congratulations on volunteering! Adopt-A-Pilot can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life, with the opportunity to mentor young minds, instill self-confidence, and show students their community cares.

To help make sure you get the most out of the experience, following are tips from Pilots who have flown this route before. (You can find more tips like these in the Adopt-A-Pilot Resource Book on the program's web site.)

Schedule Your Four-Week Program ASAP - Contact your teacher right away to plan your four-week time-frame for the program. Obviously, there is flexibility in scheduling and number of visits, but generally, Pilots visit classes once a week for four weeks, working around their flight schedule. Talk with your teacher about his/her expectations and how you can collaborate to make the program a success.

Read Over Flight Plan Curriculum - Think of the Flight Plan curriculum as a launching pad for your time in the classroom. Some Pilots follow each lesson verbatim. Others use just some of the material and create their own additional teaching points, such as weather, navigation, and more. See what some Pilots have come up with for teaching Aviation Science on the program web site.

Gather Visual Aids - Kids are thrilled to see samples of what Pilots wear, how you train, what you bring on trips. Whether it's military gear from your training days, charts, maps, souvenirs from famous cities, even your flight bag -- they love to get a visual of your life through visual aids. Plan items for "show and tell."