Luke Teacher Takes to the Skies

Luke Elementary School iExplore Teacher, Christina Tormollan, recently got a once in a lifetime opportunity to ride in a Cessna 172Nxi aircraft for a discovery flight with the United States Air Force (USAF) Civil Air Patrol as part of the Aerospace Education Member Program.  

“It allowed me to see my school from a different perspective,” said Tormollan.  “This state is no longer just a desert but rather an oasis of opportunities!”

Tormollan flew with Major Ron Marks, a pilot in the Civil Air Patrol since 1989, who also flies as a professional pilot for FedEx.  They traveled at around 150 miles per hour at an altitude between 1,500 and 3,000 feet above the Northwest Valley.

The purpose of the Aerospace Education Member Program is to provide teachers with these opportunities so they can share it with their students and get them interested in aviation and aerospace.   Luke Elementary School will tie aeronautical opportunities into their iExplore program through a partnership with Northern Arizona University (NAU) and the Civil Air Patrol.  They will provide opportunities for students to be involved in drone technology as well as robotics and coding.  Tormollan and Luke Elementary hope these partnerships for the students will help them transition to high school with the district’s Career and Technical Education programs such as Network Technology, Engineering, and Coding.