Black and Gold Mine, Flying at the "E"

I am so proud of these students. They showed leadership, class, and a willingness to bring awareness to society as they are still learning this trade. The event took place on January 23rd (the rainout/freeze date). This was an Aviation Awareness outreach event that started in St. John the Baptist parish from this high school. Satisfying the $5,902.00 grant awarded by the Joe W. & Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation through the STEM Library Lab, located in Metairie, LA, East St. John High has been building their aviation curriculum starting with the subject “Aerial Engineering,” which allows students to earn an FAA Part 107 Drone Pilot Certificate. The money is going towards the purchase of drones—different styles of drones so the students would be confident in whatever field of work; they would know how to use that drone for a particular job. So, students came up with a few different scenarios for drones to demonstrate how they could be used. The names of the stations were: Obstacle Course (a parkour activity), Search and Rescue (locating a person that is in an unsafe environment or who may be lost), Photo Booth (observing 4k and sectional chart reading), Fly Zone (opportunity for attendees to fly in a safely caged-in drone), Student Reflection Station, (flight school attendee, 11th-grader Emery Nicholas, shared knowledge of experience in flying a Cessna 172 aircraft on a scholarship to Houston Texas from Black Pilots of America- BPA and realized, what East St. John had to offer), and lastly, our Guest Station (drone pilot and visual observer, Mr. and Mrs. Trevan Jenkins presented their company, Home Drone, sharing the many possibilities in becoming a drone pilot and learning about the FAA certification career).

Thanks to the schools that participated: 1st session West St. John High School with Ms. Rochelle Darville, Mrs. Escherica Claiborne, Ms. Oubre, and Mr. Kevin Hill, and 2nd session- A special thanks the host school’s principal, Mrs. Johnika Gayden, Mrs. Hope Carter, STEM and robotics instructor, and Mrs. Nadine Stewart for allowing our high school students to bring awareness to the community and to hopefully increase the number of minorities, people of color, poverty-stricken households and women to make career choices in the STEM fields in the U.S. by gaining knowledge that has been hidden for so long. We believe everyone can benefit from this, and that productive citizens can better contribute to today’s society.

Previous contributions are from:

1. Cornerstone Chemical

2. Port of South Louisiana

3. East St. John Alumni Assoc. in Reserve, LA

4. St. John the Baptist School Board - Mrs. Debbie Schum (through Marathon)

5. Home Depot in LaPlace, Louisiana

Also, special thanks from past to present speakers to bring in the field of using drones to our Aerial Engineering/Drone course:

1. St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office (Capt. Charles Wales)

2. Mr. Brandon (for the early-on power points)

3. Paul Green of Greens Aviation: former East St. John Alumni

4. Charles Palmer: former Alumni, KAPS – Airport in St. John Parish

5. Janeen Benn, KAPS – Airport in St. John Parish

6. Lester Millet III (Safety Risk Agency ManagerPort of South Louisiana)

7. BPA (Black Pilots of America) Capt. Cedric Grimes, (United Airline Pilot)

8. CAP (Civil Air Patrol) Lt. Col. Floyd Miles

9. Sgt. Anne Bradstreet Louisiana Air National Guard, 159th Fighter Wing (FW) Career Expo

10. Daniel Waghome, movie industry Drone Pilot- (Five nights at Freddy’s-one of many movies using drone footage)- Richard Ball Jr. (who made contact)

11. Kelvin Williamson - Drone racer and event coordinator

12. Mr. and Mrs. Trevan Jenkins of Home Drone

13. CTE (Career Tech. Ed) Dir. Mrs. Billie DinvautDuncan: located in Reserve, Louisiana.

Former Principal of East St. John High School: Mrs. Tori Bazile

Present Principal of East St. John High School: Ms. DeShanna Bause.

Mr. David Lewis, (a former Principal at East St. John High) helped us get the process going to present aviation on our campus.