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."
Talk to Other "Adopted" Pilots - Share ideas by visiting the AAP Blog and talking to others in the program. Your Adopt-A-Pilot Ambassador is a great resource, and their contact information is included in the Adopt-A-Pilot binder at each Pilot Base.
Have Fun! - Get ready to have a blast with the students. Above all, the program's greatest value comes from showing you care and helping them see the value of education in reaching future career goals.
