LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) - Students at Lynchburg City Schools lifted earlier this month with drones they built, from the circuit board up, as part of an information technology class offered to advanced students during the division’s weeklong winter break.
The 14 students built their own quadcopter-style drones under the direction of information technology staff who taught them circuitry, soldering and how to fly the unmanned aerial vehicles.
The goal of the class, said David Childress, LCS director of information technology, is to “help students become creators rather than consumers” and to offer a challenging set of skills to learn.
“It’s definitely pushing us out of our comfort zones of what we’re used to with the normal curriculum,” said Ben McCarthy, a Heritage High School sophomore.
On day one, students learned to create a circuit board and began to solder components to it.
“There are kids that are interested in a lot of different things; I think some of them have realized they don’t ever want to solder again,” Rob Quel, LCS supervisor of instructional technology, said with a laugh.
Along the way, students learn how to troubleshoot and apply math and physics to get their machines in the air and flying properly. They also learned about regulations governing drone usage.
The class of 14 freshmen and sophomores is composed of students who have taken advanced math, a prerequisite for student participation. Because the class is made up of high-achieving students, Childress said it was important to challenge them with a technology project such as this.
“It’s about patience,” said Gabby Canelon, a Heritage High School sophomore. “If you mess up, you have to have the mindset that you can do it, you can finish it.”
Canelon described the week as “stressful but fun” and said the class emphasized being thorough and detail-oriented, and it taught her she enjoys building mechanical items by hand.
Childress hopes the class makes students more aware of technology careers available.
“Technology is certainly becoming more and more prevalent in our daily life,” he said.
McCarthy noted the class had made him think about what he wants to do as a career.
“It opens up your mind to possibilities for the future,” McCarthy said about the class.
After a week in class, students completed their drones and tested them in the Heritage High School gym on March 3 to avoid winds nearing 15 mph outside.
Quel joked the drones would “have ended up in Campbell County,” due to the wind.
The test run gave students the chance to put their new skills to use as drones whirred around the Heritage High gym, despite a few jerky takeoffs and a share of rough, unplanned landings.
Childress said the drones are based off of the DJI Phantom F450, which retails for about $300.
The devices were built with parts ordered online, and LCS received money from sponsors to fund the class. Childress said Lynchburg-based Delta Star, which manufactures power transformers, donated $1,000, and Crist Communications donated $500.
The class was free to students, who get to keep their drones. According to LCS spokeswoman Cindy Babb, the drone class was offered in addition to intersession, which is ongoing, but not as part of intersession programming.
According to Babb, 1,100 of the division’s 8,500-plus students accepted the invitation to intersession. Students are invited to work in small-group instruction on remediation for Standards of Learning tests, or prepare for college-level entry exams, such as the ACT. All schools in the division participate in intersession.
Based on the LCS academic calendar, intersession is held twice each school year. The first round of intersession was in October. The February intersession has been removed from the 2017-18 school calendar.
That decision was made after public input solicited by the division on community listening tours.
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Information from: The News & Advance, https://www.newsadvance.com/
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