Two members of an international organization of women pilots met with Pieter B. STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) students to educate and inspire them to consider a career in aviation. Linda Coiffi and Carol Keinath from the NY Capital Region Chapter of The Ninety-Nines, Inc., spoke with the wide-eyed students, sharing stories of their flights and showing images of those journeys.
Hands shot in the air, one after another with inquiry, to ask Coiffi and Keinath about their travels and their experiences as pilots.
“Where is the coolest place you have ever traveled,” one student asked.
“Have you flown over the ocean,” another questioned.
Coiffi and Keinath happily answered questions and asked questions of their own.
“Does anyone one know what this is called,” Coiffi asked as she pointed to the back of an airplane.
The two women say it is important to reach out young kids to show them opportunities and possibilities in aviation.
“There’s a big deficit of people in aviation going forward,” Coiffi said. “We need pilots. We also need mechanics and everybody else that supports the pilots and the planes.”
Students ended their time with Coiffi and Keinath by making paper airplanes. Encouraged to shape their wings in different ways, students saw first-hand how aerodynamics works on different shapes.