Florida teacher brings once-in-lifetime flight experience to students: 'It's really awesome'

UMATILLA, Fla. - At Umatilla Elementary School in Mr. Dustin Strate’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) classroom students learn a variety of skills like building bridges and rockets, but they don’t keep their learning limited to the ground. They’re learning how to fly real planes.

The local young Eagles chapter has taken about 40 of his students up in the air. A once-in-a-lifetime experience for these students that would not have been possible without Strate.

He applied for a grant to get the flight simulator right in his classroom. It is the only flight simulator in Lake County elementary schools.

What they're saying:

"To see the excitement on their face was wonderful," Strate said. "What’s really awesome is, when they get up there, they have a little bit of experience, because we’ve actually had pilots come in and fly with them on our flight sim."

"He is always thinking outside of the box and the next thing he can introduce to the students," said Diane Dwyer, Principal at Umatilla Elementary School.

‘It’s really awesome to expose the students to the possibilities’

In Mr. Strate’s classroom, he teaches his students about all of the amazing opportunities within STEAM education using hands-on activities like designing and programming projects with 3D printers and CAD software.

"It’s really awesome to expose the students to the possibilities they can do when they get older," Strate said. "For example, like the 3D printing, it’s really awesome to put something that they’ve designed into their hand and have a physical object that they’ve designed themselves."

Dozens of 3D printed rockets are on display in his classroom. Each fifth grader will launch theirs into the sky on Rocket Day.

"My hope for them is, when they leave my classroom, that they have an idea of what’s available to them in the future," Strate said.