Senior Mason Cerminara didn’t originally plan to take the new Drones and Aerial Innovation class this year.
“I just wanted to get out of my other (class), but after I joined it, it actually started getting really fun,” Cerminara said. “One day we went down to the Sunoco and, on the drone, we watched some dude pumping gas.”
The class, taught by Christopher Tator, teaches students how to fly drones, the history of drones, and how the mechanics of drones work. It also prepares students to get licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration at the end of the semester.
“The biggest challenge is studying for the FAA test at the end of the semester, but it will be useful depending on what you do in the future,” senior Dylan Ernst said.
Another senior, Kit Hartzell, said flying the drones is reminiscent of playing a video game.
“If you know how to play any video game, flying is pretty self-explanatory,” Hartzell said. “It’s pretty easy: You’ve got up, down, rotate, forward, backward, and side-to-side.”
When the weather was nice at the beginning of the semester, students were outside learning how to fly the drones. Later, after mastering the basics and as the weather got colder, they worked inside.
“After a couple of weeks of (flying outside), they can fly the drones really well,” Tator said. “Then we come inside and fly in the halls. It’s much more confined, and there’s more obstacles, so I tell the kids don’t fly near anybody – just try to navigate the close quarters.”
Preparing for the FAA test and mastering other class material can be difficult because of the amount of detailed knowledge students need to learn, Cerminara said.
“The tests and work are definitely a little hard because you have to remember all the facts,” Cerminara said. “But if you’re looking for a good class with a good teacher, Drones Class is pretty fun.”
Tator was originally approached to teach the class by Dr. Janeen Peretin, the assistant to the superintendent, who was, in large part, responsible for the introduction of the class.
“She asked me to teach a drone class, and I thought it would be outstanding – like, how much fun would that be to teach students to fly drones as a class,” Tator said.
The class is inspired by the regional student group that Peretin helps run: Fly Like a Girl or FLAG. It aims to introduce more young women to aviation and STEM fields, especially in relation to drones.
“The representation of women, in the area of drone aeronautics specifically, is about 8 percent FAA-certified female pilots,” Peretin said.
The class has created an opportunity for both young women and men to learn about flying drones, which was a long-term goal for Peretin.
“I was always thinking about how we could bring FLAG to any student at Baldwin who would be interested in learning more about drones, and ultimately getting FAA certified,” Peretin said.
