Avionics News February 2022 - 35

AWSP has seven initiatives.
National outreach: For programs at public institutions,
promotional campaigns are difficult to conduct. Public
outreach budgets are small and spread out over a
disparate variety of programs. The grant will provide
funding for both regional and national advertising,
specifically for aviation maintenance.
Military outreach: U.S. News and World Report lists
Penn College in the top five best colleges for veterans.
The AWSP will increase opportunities for military
personnel and veterans to tour the aviation facility and
the campus as a whole.
Revised military transcript and evaluation process:
AWSP will focus the transcript and life skills evaluation
process on the experience and training received by
military personnel.
Test preparation: The grant will fund the development
and implementation of a process for students and veterans
to refresh the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed
in certification exams.
Teacher and counselor externships: AWSP will
provide funds for teachers and counselors to spend
several days on campus learning about aviation and how
they can use this new knowledge in their classrooms. The
teachers will participate in hands-on activities and be
provided with lesson plans they can use back at their own
schools. Teachers will get the opportunity to start and run
aircraft, including Penn College's Boeing 727.
The next initiative involves an expansion and
enhancement of an activity already developed. Many
times, a college recruiting table at an aviation event is
visited rarely. Two faculty members, William Stepp IV
and Mathew Krepps, developed an activity that gives the
students a hands-on project that is easy and safe. The first
version was to rivet two pieces of aluminum together
using rivet squeezers. The second version, in use now,
involves pre-cut pieces of aluminum that, when bent and
riveted together, form a small model airplane. Stickers
with the Penn College logo and web address complete the
project. The teacher running the table stresses the fact the
participants are using real aviation grade aluminum and
aviation fasteners. As of this writing, two models have
been developed, and two more are under development.
The intent is to focus the type of model on the venue.
For example, the original model for most venues is a
jet airliner. For aviation events featuring classic and
antique aircraft, the faculty designed a Piper Cub model.
Under development now is a B-26 for the World War II
weekend and airshow in Reading, Pennsylvania. The next
model will be of the college's Bombardier Challenger
600. Since the aircraft are made of aluminum, they are
durable enough to still be around when the prospective
student begins thinking seriously about a choice of higher
education institutions.
Pre-cut aircraft aluminum, an example of non-aircraft aluminum, tools,
rivets, and stickers make up the Camp-in-a-Box kit for Pennsylvania
College of Technology.
Construction of these models made a huge difference
in the number of people visiting the college's recruiting
tables. Often, there are so many prospective students, one
faculty member can't handle the traffic. Students line up
to build the models.
Camp-in-a-Box: COVID-19 mitigation has had a large
negative impact on faculty and college recruiters' abilities
to make personal visits to classrooms. Recruiters and
faculty members have had limited success with virtual
online visits using Zoom and Microsoft Teams. The
grant will fund the creation of a kit, which will include
the materials and tools for making the aircraft models.
A Penn College faculty member can attend in person
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avionics news * february 2022 35
Avionics News February 2022

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