March 2009

From the "Schall Stars" at Aldrich Elementary

Our class has a hero by the name of Captain Garrett. He is one of those people we look forward to have coming to teach our class about science, social studies, and math.

Captain Garrett makes learning fun by experiments and other fun activities. We learned about the Bernoulli Principle when Captain Garrett used a ping-pong ball and a hair dryer to show us how slow moving air creates more pressure and fast moving air creates less pressure.

We calculated how many miles Captain Garrett flies in one month, and we tracked his movement on a huge map. You should see the map! He criss-crosses the United States many times.

Lift, thrust, gravity, and drag are all words that help describe the forces at work on an airplane.

Captain Garrett was in the Air Force a few years ago. He brought a video tape of airplanes being re-fueled in mid-air! It was amazing!

Captain Garrett even brought a video tape of his trip to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, which fit right in with our social studies lessons.

Captain Garrett cares about kids, he is a great teacher, a wonderful role model, and is truly a Pilot to remember. We would like to fly in his plane any day.

Captain Garrett, thanks for helping us soar with knowledge.

Teaching is to touch a life forever.

Sue Schall

5th Grade Teacher

Aldrich Elementary

Omaha, NE

A Look at Pilot Gary H.'s Letters to Trenton Middle School

FROM THE ADOPT-A-PILOT CREW: Following is a an excerpt from Pilot Gary H.'s letters to his students. This is a great example of how "adopted" Pilots correspond with their classes while away. We'd love to hear from more Pilots and classes on how you stay connected. Tell us by clicking on "Share A Story" or send us an e-mail at adoptapilot@wnco.com.

Hi TMS 5th Grade!

I am writing you today from San Francisco again, but because I'm flying the same trip I flew last week, I thought I'd give you the routing from a trip I flew earlier in the month. Go ahead and put this day on the map and add this to the flying log. The first day of the trip went like this:

DAL to MSY

MSY to TPA

JAX to BWI

BWI to BDL

During my actual flying today, I crossed the Rio Grande River, the Arkansas River, and the Colorado River. Like the Nile River through Egypt, the Rio Grande and the Colorado wind their way through the desert. Along their banks, towns spring up and irrigation makes the otherwise barren desert productive.

We also flew over El Paso, TX, where from 40,000 feet you can look north and see the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, near Hollomon Air Force Base. The sand is so white that every month on a full moon, they open a safe portion to the public to have midnight picnics - they say it as bright as the day on the white sand.

From 40,000 feet you can also see the slight curvature of the earth and notice how dark blue the sky is up where there is so little air.

We also flew by Lake Havasu City, part of the Colorado River and formed by Parker Dam in the 1930s. The city was the brainchild of outboard motor & chainsaw manufacturer Robert P. McCulloch. Here there is an island attached to the main city by the London Bridge...not a replica, but the actual London Bridge! McCulloch bought it from the city of London for $2.5 million and had it transported and reassembled between 1968 and 1971 at an additional cost of $7 million. Today, over 55,000 people call Lake Havasu City their home.

On our arrival into Los Angeles, we passed about 30 miles north of Salton Sea. The sea was formed in 1905 when, responding to farmers' concerns about irrigation channels from the Colorado River that were choked with silt, the Army Corps of Engineers created a temporary diversion of the river which later was breached by floodwaters. The Colorado emptied almost exclusively into the valley for over two years before it was finally contained. Today the Salton Sea (which sits about 200 feet BELOW sea level) is an important and very productive inland fishing source.

Have a great day and let me know if you have any questions!

Your Pilot,

Gary

A Look at Pilot Gary H.'s Letters to Trenton Middle School

FROM THE ADOPT-A-PILOT CREW: Following is a an excerpt from Pilot Gary H.'s letters to his students. This is a great example of how "adopted" Pilots correspond with their classes while away. We'd love to hear from more Pilots and classes on how you stay connected. Tell us by clicking on "Share A Story" or send us an e-mail at adoptapilot@wnco.com.

A Look at Pilot Gary H.'s Letters to Trenton Middle School

FROM THE ADOPT-A-PILOT CREW: Following is a an excerpt from Pilot Gary H.'s letters to his students. This is a great example of how "adopted" Pilots correspond with their classes while away. We'd love to hear from more Pilots and classes on how you stay connected. Tell us by clicking on "Share A Story" or send us an e-mail at adoptapilot@wnco.com.

Hi Students!

Today I am writing you from the "City by the Bay." This city was home to the most devasting earthquake in U.S. history in 1906. It boasts a professional football team and a professional baseball team (two of each if you count nearby Oakland); an infamous (but no longer used) federal prison known as “the rock;” and one of the most well known bridges in the world – the Golden Gate Bridge.

This city is one of America's hilliest cities with steep roadways and streetcars. You see images of this city almost every day in commercials, TV shows, and movies. Can you guess the name of this city? 

It is in the state known as the "Golden State.”   Maybe you want to use the Internet to find out more about this fascinating town and some of the amazing places you can see here – like those I mentioned above or even Lombard Street, Fisherman’s Wharf, and the TransAmerica building. I always like spending time in this town because it is so beautiful.

To get here, I started in LIT and flew the following legs:

LIT      to         DAL

DAL    to         SAT

SAT     to         LAX

LAX    to         ???

Make sure you draw the legs, figure out the mileage, and add up the total for the day! On Friday, I will be in class to talk to you about this city and some of the most interesting places in America. I will also be checking out mileage totals, and going over your first assignment. i will write you another letter tomorrow night from another city in the Southwest Airlines system!

Your Pilot - Gary

Go Behind the Scenes with Adopt-A-Pilot

The Adopt-A-Pilot program officially runs from February to May, but did you know that it takes a year of planning to prepare for those exciting four months?

For the Adopt-A-Pilot Crew, preparation for February’s kick-off begins in February of the previous year! The Crew begins brainstorming ideas of how to make the program bigger and better every year. Because the program is free to schools and costs must stay very low, The Crew spends a lot of time negotiating prices for program supplies, as well as determining and developing cost-saving alternatives. Surveys are sent out at the end of every Adopt-A-Pilot season to all participating Pilots and Teachers. Those surveys help determine the direction for the next year’s program.

One of the biggest projects The Crew takes on is the January mail-out of all the program supplies to every Pilot and school participating in the program. More than 33,000 curriculum booklets are printed for students, teachers, and Pilots! This year, the Crew - with a lot of help from a lot of friends at Southwest's headquarters in Dallas, Texas - sent out more than 2,000 boxes to schools and Pilots across the country. Take a look at some of the photos from the mail out.

With a shipment this big, things aren't always smooth sailing, but we're working each year to make it better. Do you have ideas on how to make the program even better next year? Let us know!