In a collaborative effort with the geography department at SIUE and local experts, AP Human Geography and Psychology teacher Kevin Paur is bringing yet another groundbreaking opportunity to EHS students.

Paur, Dr. Randall Pearson, a geography professor and department chair at SIUE, and local Southwestern Airlines pilot Scott Fitzgerald collaborated to give all AP Human Geography students the opportunity to sign up for a competitive drone team.

The school has fielded two separate teams of six kids. Each team is given a kit with all the supplies and software needed to build, operate their drone and then compete in the USA4STEM competition where they will use their drone to complete a search and rescue mission.

“I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn something new about something I basically have no idea about,” senior Emily Lombardi said.

The students had their first hands on meeting Monday and began building the drones under Paur, Pearson and Fitzgerald’s guidance along with the assistance of geography students from SIUE.

The teams will compete in a regional competition put on by the Academy of Model Aeronautics in April in hopes to qualify for a national competition in May. The site of the regional competition is still to be determined but student teams from all over the Midwest region will compete for one of three births for the National competition in Indiana this summer.

The opportunity seemed appealing to many students for many reasons and not all students are those looking to have careers in aviation, engineering or other industries using the evolving drone technology. Many students signed up for the opportunity out of curiosity.

“I don’t really know how drones work or what exactly we are supposed to do with it but I’m hoping to learn the answer to both of those things before the end of the year,” senior Maddie Rasche said.

The privately funded Drone Team is highly endorsed by District 7 Super Intendant Lynda Andre as well as other school and district administration. The district will be working on a time lapse video of the creation of the drone and hopefully the programs first birth to the national competition as well as other ways to document the programs first year.

The Drone Team is just another addition to the district’s hands on learning opportunities. At the elementary level students have developed a solar power driverless Power Wheels car as well as launched several weather balloons.

“This project is a great example of a hands-on activity,” Paur said. “Students will use their science, math, and geography knowledge and then apply it to real-world situations.”