The ConstructMyFuture.com scholarship program for 2003-2004 is expanding to provide three scholarships for postsecondary career and technical education with a construction focus. The program, which is open to students enrolled in or accepted to a postsecondary program with a construction focus as well as to individuals already employed in a construction field, will provide scholarships of $1,500, $1,000 and $500.
Applications will be accepted beginning December 1, 2003, and must be postmarked by February 1, 2004. Winners will be notified in March. Entry details and applications are available at www.constructmyfuture.com/stu-scholar.html.
ConstructMyFuture.com is a joint effort of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, the Associated Equipment Distributors Foundation and the Associated General Contractors of America. For more information, visit www.constructmyfuture.com.
The Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance (AWAM) was born from the need for women involved in the maintenance and engineering segments of the aviation industry to communicate and support one another. These women found that, even at the Women in Aviation conference, they were perceived to be in the minority, since most of the attendees were pilots. With the creation of AWAM, they now have their own association, designed to meet their own needs.
AWAM was established for the purpose of “championing women’s professional growth and enrichment in the aviation maintenance fields by providing opportunities for sharing information and networking, education, fostering a sense of community and increasing public awareness of women in the industry.”
Robin Lamar is the president of AWAM and one of the original 10 cofounders of the organization. Lamar says that although the organization was started by women who saw it as something they were doing for one another, one of their biggest surprises was the reaction of an industry eager to find more women aviation maintenance technicians to promote and employ.
“What we didn’t realize,” explains Lamar, “is that the industry was waiting for a place to make a connection to women in aviation maintenance.”
Membership in AWAM is open to both men and women and consists of maintenance technicians, engineers, teachers, scientists, vendors and pilots who support maintenance in one form or another. There are also student and corporate membership opportunities.
Some very remarkable women serve as leaders of AWAM.
President Lamar has always loved airplanes—taking soaring lessons and general aviation lessons. But when she enrolled in aviation maintenance school, she found that adding the hands-on element made her love of airplanes complete. After graduating from West Los Angeles College with a degree in aviation maintenance technology, Lamar went to work for TWA. She was then employed by United Airlines from 1997 until her recent furlough. Lamar is certified to teach in career and technical education in California and has taught aviation maintenance at her alma mater—sometimes as a long-term substitute teacher.
AWAM Director Laura Gordon is director of curriculum development for Aviation Learning, Inc. She is also a licensed pilot and a licensed airframe and powerplant (A&P) technician with an expertise in avionics. AWAM Secretary Mary Alice Rice is a semi-retired owner and chairman of the board of Northrup Rice USA, Inc. She has been active in the planning, establishment and management of a coast-to-coast system of Part 147, A&P training facilities. Treasurer and cofounder of AWAM Marcia Buckingham is a 14-year veteran of the Space Shuttle program and the 2003 winner of the AMT of the Year Award.
As part of its awards program, AWAM honors a teacher of the year and a student of the year. The “Beyond All Odds” award is presented to a woman who has overcome obstacles to succeed in the field of aviation maintenance. The teacher of the year award is named after Mary Ann Eiff, a former Purdue educator who has worked toward encouragement and empowerment of women in aviation maintenance. A new award, the Richard C. Wellman Award, is a lifetime achievement award that goes to an individual who has championed the cause of women in the field of aviation technology. Wellman, the award’s first recipient, is the recently retired director of the Pratt and Whitney Customer Training Center and chairman of the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association. This year’s winner, Victor Boyce, has recognized women’s achievements for more than 50 years and is the director of Sun ‘N Fun Workshops in Florida.
AWAM scholarships are 90 percent gender neutral, so they are open to men as well. As Lamar explains, “If you’re brave enough to be a part of AWAM, you deserve to win.”
Still the association is sensitive to the needs of the applicants for scholarships, who may be single mothers for whom getting to the training sites where they can utilize their scholarships may be difficult. AWAM provides air transportation and accommodations for scholarship recipients to get to Pratt and Whitney Engine training centers, even though it has become more difficult since 9-11 because of security issues and funding. “So many of our members have been laid off,” comments Lamar.
As the airline industry begins to recover, aviation maintenance technicians will again be in demand, and many women will be like Lamar, who has been laid off from United Airlines since February, but says, “I will go back when I’m recalled.”
She’s happy to teach others in the meantime, but she states, “I’m primarily a mechanic who works on airplanes.”
For more information about the Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance, including events, awards and scholarship opportunities, visit www.awam.org.
When this year’s ACT and SAT scores were released, the discrepancy between the math results of the two tests did not go unnoticed by either the media or the education community.
The ACT scores for the high school class of 2003 were 20.6 in math and 20.8 in science on a 36-point scale. According to a September 8 Associated Press (AP) story, “Researchers for the ACT analyzed this year’s results and concluded that just 26 percent of test takers were ready to handle college course work in science and 40 percent in math.”
The SAT math scores, however, were the best this year that they had been since 1967. With a score of 519 out of 800, the SAT math scores were up eight points since 1999.
So, are U.S. students doing better or worse in math? The AP story presents arguments from both sides.
Some educators—among them, Stanford University professor Michael Kirst—say the ACT’s conclusions are supported by the number of students enrolled in remedial math and science courses at four-year schools. However, others such as Andrew Porter, the director of Vanderbilt University’s Learning Sciences Institute, say the SAT scores represent an upward trend in math and science proficiency.
The differences, note many educators, may stem from the differences in the exams and the students who take them.
Robert Schaeffer of FairTest is quoted by the AP as explaining the difference as a matter of promotion of products by businesses involved in a fight for market share, with each test maker stressing “what’s newsy” about its annual findings.
When he began in the Aviation Maintenance Technology (AMT) program at Metro Technology Centers, Michael Ray says, “I was willing to make the needed changes in my life to get what I wanted, and although the maintenance part wasn’t my original dream, I knew that it would be a good opportunity for me to learn in-depth knowledge about the helicopters that I so desired to fly.”
In 1998, Ray saw a Metro Tech advertisement while on a visit to see his mother in Oklahoma. “Up to that point, I only knew about some of the larger schools in the country offering aviation programs,” says Ray, “but after checking out Metro Tech, I decided to enroll in their program.”
He began his AMT training at Metro Tech in 2000, and by 2001 he was working part time at Tinker Air Force Base under an agreement Metro Tech has with the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center to employ AMT students.
He completed the program in February 2002, and notes Ray, “to the credit of instructors Herman Bounds, Robert Hensley and Mike Moreland, I left Metro Tech very confident in my knowledge as a mechanic. Herman Bounds really knows his engines and a tremendous amount about helicopters. Mike Moreland’s electrical course was excellent, and the hands-on training in Robert Hensley’s course helped to build the confidence that I have today.” By February 2003, Ray was employed full time at Tinker, working on KC135s, the huge planes known as the mid-air refueling planes. But another vacation trip would soon change that.
On the Hawaiian island of Kauai, Ray walked into a helicopter company—Inter Island Helicopter Tours—and talked with one of the company’s mechanics about their need for an airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanic. The mechanic asked Ray if he was familiar with 337 Alterations—a very detailed documentation process—to which Ray responded yes. After taking Ray’s information and promising to pass it on to the president of the company, the mechanic told Ray, “Coincidentally, the president will be in Oklahoma City in two weeks on business.”
Ray was surprised at the coincidence and wondered what business would bring the president of a Hawaiian company to Oklahoma. Two weeks later he found out. The president owns two helicopters leased to a federal agency in Oklahoma.
“The president called and arranged to visit with me,” says Ray. “I met with the gentleman, interviewed and before he left, I had a job offer.” And what a job offer it was—a helicopter mechanic on the beautiful island of Kauai at a salary in the mid-60-thousand-dollar range.
“I owe it to the training I received at Metro Tech,” Ray comments. When asked about what he would say to other students entering the AMT program, he offers this advice: “to be serious about what you’re out to accomplish, press your nose to the grindstone, and keep up on all of your work. This is the key to successfully completing Metro Tech’s Aviation Maintenance Technology program.”
As for flying helicopters, Ray says, “Oh, ground school is next!”
