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Children to learn about aviators from Miami County organizations

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By Nancy Bowman, Contributing Writer 12:31 AM Saturday, November 7, 2009

CONCORD TWP., Miami County — Two Miami County-based organizations hope an education program combining aviation personalities and state academic standards takes off in area classrooms.

Representatives of the WACO Air Museum in Troy and the Tipp City-based American Veterans Institute are outlining the Veterans Aloft K-12 Education Program to school administrators in Miami and Montgomery counties.

Mike Jackson, AVI president, said teaming with WACO and its education programs “seemed like the perfect match” as AVI expanded on previously written books for children about veterans. These books already are being tested in schools in Ohio and Indiana.

“We are tying together our purpose of preserving the history of veterans with WACO’s goals,” said Tara Dixon-Engel, AVI vice president. WACO’s mission is to preserve the golden age of flight and the legacy of the WACO Aircraft Co., which built civilian and commercial airplanes in Troy from the 1920s to the late 1940s and combat gliders during World War II.

To help draw students’ interest, many of the aviators featured in Veterans Aloft materials have Miami County, WACO or Ohio ties. Many are not famous, but make perfect role models, said Karen Purke, WACO Historical Society executive director.

Purke said she was pleased to see the often-talked about affiliation with AVI take off.

“We are so closely located and have similar goals with our education programs,” she said. “One of our goals was to merge what we are doing with proficiency guidelines to make our program more attractive to schools. American Veterans Institute was already doing that.”

Lesson plans emphasize the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) disciplines plus social studies and language arts.

AVI has been working with Ohio University to ensure curriculum materials meet the state proficiency goals. AVI also has been working with local educators on the best way of tying the materials into lessons.

More information on the program and the organizations is available at www.wacoairmuseum.org and www.americanveterans institute.org.

Contact this reporter at nancykburr@aol.com or (937) 339-4371.

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