Young campers take flight through hands-on aviation STEM experience

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WNKY) – A group of aspiring young aviators spent Sunday learning the science behind flight during a hands-on aviation camp at Aviation Heritage Park.

Aviation Camp CHUCK welcomed students entering third through sixth grades for a full day of STEM-focused activities designed to introduce them to aviation through engineering, problem-solving and interactive learning.

Campers rotated through a variety of challenges, including building paper airplanes and parachutes, flying kid-friendly flight simulators and learning how pilots use weather data and maps to plan flights. They also met experienced aviators during a Lunch and Learn session before wrapping up the day with a cockpit photo opportunity and a wing ceremony recognizing their accomplishments.

Jennifer Davis, who teaches at Butler County High School and helps lead Aviation Heritage Park’s education programs, said the camp gives younger students an opportunity to discover science in a hands-on environment.

“We try to do engineering challenges at every camp we have, regardless of what the topic is,” Davis said. “For them to see it’s okay to fail the first time and to really just try to dig in and see what that problem is and how to solve it. Science is not about just regurgitating facts back and forth — it’s really just about that thinking process and trying to solve problems.”  

Davis said watching students grow more confident throughout the day is one of the most rewarding parts of the program.

“You can see they’re thinking, they’re very excited to be here,” she said. “Once they start getting into building, it’s just really cool to see their brains working and how excited they are about science. That’s our whole thing, is really just trying to inspire these kids into these STEM careers.”  

The aviation camp was the fourth of six summer camps offered through Aviation Heritage Park’s education program. Davis said each camp has sold out, with support from the Tennessee Valley Authority helping sponsor 40 students to attend throughout the summer.