Flying high

NEA Today, Jan 2003 by Arce, Irene

Indiana teacher Richard Beamer trusts his students with his life. Last fall Beamer fulfilled his longtime dream of flying west at treetop level-in a plane built by his fifth-grade students at Southwood Elementary School.

Under Beamer's guidance, students assembled an ultralight, 1930s-style, tube and cloth airplane that took Beamer, a licensed pilot, from Wabash, Indiana, to Seattle, Washington. He traveled for five weeks with a laptop computer and e-mailed journal entries to students during his journey. Beamer received a $2,000 grant from The NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education to help fund the project.

In addition to preparing for Beamer's trip, students learned how to make webpages, correspond by e-mail, and write online reports about their teacher's progress. Beamer incorporated aviation themes into his reading, writing, math, and geography lessons as well.

Beamer's classes had followed other teachers' adventures on the Internet for years, until Beamer decided it was time his students designed their own project. In 1999, his students constructed an ultralight airplane that Beamer flew from Wabash to Bloomington, Indiana. The next year, his class assembled a plane that took their intrepid instructor to San Diego, California, and back. For a change of pace in 2001, Beamer canoed down the Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers to Memphis, Tennessee, sending pictures and journal entries to his students along the way.

To follow Beamer's adventure, visit www.msdwc.k12.in.us/ses/2002seattle/seaindex.htm. To find out more about NEA Foundation grants, visit www.nfie.org.