The Thornhill students won the chance to take a helicopter tour through a Amelia Earhart STEM Challenge, which is hosted annually by Ulster University and supported by Royal Academy of Engineering.
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00:00There's some clocks in here, too.
00:02Yes, I know.
00:04Hello, girls.
00:06How are we doing here?
00:08If you still want to go, throw it out right there.
00:14Come this way.
00:18All right.
00:20Are you safe?
00:22Yep.
00:30There's a helicopter before us.
00:56It's not too bad, actually.
00:58We've had it once.
01:00That's something to lean against, you know.
01:28All right.
01:58All right.
02:28All right.
02:58Can you just introduce yourself, please?
03:12Yeah, sure.
03:14Steve Fraser, Managing Director at City of Derry Airport.
03:16Can you tell me what we're doing here today, Steve?
03:18So we're here for the third year in a row now
03:20for City of Derry Airport,
03:22partnering with Cutting Edge Helicopters
03:24to give a STEM prize
03:26for the Amelia Earhart competition
03:28that's been organized across the region
03:30and all the schools across the region.
03:32And what does it mean to you
03:34as part of the City of Derry Airport
03:36to get involved with local schools
03:38and get involved in education?
03:40Is it important for the City of Derry Airport?
03:42Very much so.
03:44I mean, there's a couple of aspects to it.
03:46There's the amazing history
03:48that Amelia Earhart has with Derry.
03:50We want to keep that legacy going, of course,
03:52and keep it strong.
03:54Through education, to be able to learn
03:56about that amazing achievement in aviation history
03:58as well as apply the science, technology,
04:00engineering and math skills that they've done
04:02to win this prize,
04:04it's all very positive.
04:06It's obviously very exciting as well
04:08to get the kids in a helicopter.
04:10It's a great prize, isn't it?
04:12Yeah, a fantastic prize.
04:14And as I said, we're really pleased
04:16to be partnering again with Cutting Edge Helicopters.
04:18It's a pleasure to be able to do it.
04:20Hi, I'm Jane Casey, and I am a teacher
04:22at Cornhill College, and I'm here with the Gears today
04:24for the competition that they won
04:26for the Amelia Earhart.
04:28And what does it mean to you as a teacher
04:30to bring your students out to air
04:32and get them to fly in a helicopter?
04:34It's such an achievement for the Gears,
04:36so I'm very proud of them.
04:38They took them out accompanying on their trip,
04:40and they put in so much hard work last year,
04:42and it's just a great achievement.
04:44Can you tell me where you're going to appoint
04:46the competition?
04:48So the Amelia Earhart competition
04:50is where they go home in their own time
04:52and created PowerPoints
04:54and 3D-printed models
04:56and other things.
04:58For the girls who bake some cookies and things,
05:00they enter the competition, so it's really inspiring
05:02to see what they go home and work with their families
05:04as well and see what they can come up with.
05:06Because it's great that Amelia Earhart
05:08was such a part of our community.
05:10So the Gears are really enthusiastic
05:12and wanting to bring that into the school
05:14and enter the competition,
05:16so their enthusiasm shines through.
05:18Are they excited to get in the helicopter?
05:20Oh, they can't wait. They're so excited.
05:22So it's meant to be just before the summer,
05:24so they've been waiting all summer patiently,
05:26so we haven't heard anything about the helicopter
05:28ride this term,
05:30so they're so excited to get out.
05:32Are you going to get on it yourself?
05:34Maybe. We'll see.
05:44Well, how was it?
05:46Did you enjoy that?
05:48Yeah, good.
05:50Fantastic.
05:52The smiles on your faces, that's great.
05:54I'm Jessica.
05:56I'm Lauren.
05:58Can you tell me about your flight there?
06:00Was it exciting?
06:02Were you a bit nervous in the air?
06:04I thought it was brilliant.
06:06I was a wee bit nervous at the start,
06:08but then once you got up into the air,
06:10it was great and you saw the whole town
06:12from Bird's Eye View.
06:14It was a bit nerve-wracking because you could feel
06:16the entire helicopter vibrating,
06:18but once you got up in the air,
06:20it's an experience I'm never going to forget.
06:22It was a really good experience.
06:24You can just see your face and your skills.
06:26You can see everything.
06:28And obviously,
06:30you weren't just plucked out of a hat
06:32to get this.
06:34How did you end up getting this reward?
06:36Should I say it?
06:38Yeah.
06:40We first had to prove that we actually wanted to do a competition,
06:42so we all had to make something,
06:44like you 3D-printed.
06:46I 3D-printed.
06:48It's like a photo
06:50of Amelia Earhart.
06:52You can't really see her face,
06:54but when you shine a light behind it,
06:56you can see her face and all the details.
06:58So that got me in it.
07:00I designed
07:02Amelia Earhart-based airport
07:04using architecture software.
07:08I baked some cookies
07:10with Amelia Earhart on them,
07:12and then I also made a PowerPoint.
07:14So through the competition,
07:16did you learn a lot about Amelia Earhart?
07:18Would you say you're now closer to the history of Amelia Earhart
07:20and maybe the history of there in general?
07:22Yeah, I'd say so.
07:24I learned a lot about Amelia Earhart.
07:26I knew who she was and what she did,
07:28but with this competition, I learned a lot about her more.
07:30Yeah, like
07:32the interview portion of it,
07:34it was quite interesting because there were some
07:36questions that were asked
07:38that I don't think anybody knew,
07:40but we thought on our feet and we came up with
07:42some answers that we don't know if they were true or not.
07:46Yeah, I learned some stuff about her too,
07:48but I'm going to be honest,
07:50I forget most of it.
07:54So in terms of that stuff,
07:56here and what you've made
07:58in terms of your airport and your 3D printing,
08:02has that made you consider
08:04I guess your what now?
08:06Lower sec?
08:08Third year!
08:10You're a prefect in third year, Jesus.
08:12But the whole thing is,
08:14has it made you consider maybe a future
08:16going down that road of going
08:18into STEM when you're older?
08:20Definitely, yeah.
08:22I think it's so interesting how she
08:24was a pilot and one of the first female pilots.
08:28Yeah, like I definitely either want to
08:30be a doctor, a lawyer
08:32or an engineer, so
08:34none of those really
08:36include STEM.
08:38I think I would go more down the science path of STEM
08:40and do something in the
08:42medical industry, but
08:44yes, still STEM.
08:46Would you say that now,
08:48a female role model
08:50would do all three of these?
08:52Yes.
08:54And wider up in the air,
08:56do you see any sights as you fly over a school or anything?
08:58Yeah, we flew over a school,
09:00it looks so much bigger from above.
09:02And the hospital, too.
09:04Oh, the hospital's massive.
09:06Well, it's in our places, too.