Dundee-Crown AVID Student Chosen for NASA Camp

Teachers in Dundee-Crown High School's AVID program have often asked sophomore Kevin Dispensa to reach for the stars.  They never thought he would take their advice so literally. 

Dispensa was recently selected to participate in the 2011 NASA Wings Summer Camp offered at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC).  The camp will focus on helping students understand Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite technology and how it impacts the field of aviation.  Students in the camp will fly planes and participate in flight simulations using GPS.

"It's an amazing opportunity to learn so much more about aviation," said Dispensa, who said he has plans to study aerospace engineering in college.  "I have always liked aviation.  There is something about being having the freedom to do whatever you want when you are flying that really appeals to me."

Lorelei Ruiz, Associate Professor in the Department of Aviation Management and Flight at SIUC, said that the week-long program will help students better understand how NASA's satellite program has changed commercial aviation.

The program is selective, and it requires a teacher or counselor recommendation.  Dispensa was the first student to submit an application and recommendation.  "We were very excited by his application," Ruiz said.  "It made us start looking forward to this summer."

Dianne Kraus, the DCHS faculty member and AVID teacher who nominated Dispensa for the camp, said it is the kind of opportunity the school's AVID program guides students towards. 

In fact, Dispensa was one of six DCHS students who were a part of a different program that took place at SIUC this fall in which students learned more about the field of commercial aviation by flying on an American Airlines commercial jet from O'Hare Airport to Carbondale.  Students interacted with the pilots of the plane during the trip. 

One of those pilots was Jim Rouley, a DCHS graduate who is now a pilot for American Airlines.  He said he appreciated how motivated and curious the students from D-CHS were.

Dispensa said the trip helped to motivate him. 

"I came back from that trip knowing so much more about how a plane works.  There are so many people involved in getting a plane ready and making sure everybody stays safe."

Motivating students is one of the primary goals of AVID, a college-readiness program that focuses on students in the middle.  As a freshman at DCHS, Dispensa was enrolled in general level classes and despite his efforts to take hard classes, he found his requests to move up were often declined.  He decided to join AVID his sophomore year, and suddenly found himself in more difficult courses as well as with more opportunities.

"It was shocking a first, but I quickly learned how to get help and balance everything," he said.

"That is what AVID is all about," Kraus said.  "We move students from the middle and give them a sense of what their future could be."

Next year Dispensa, who will be a junior, plans to enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) Physics at DCHS, even as the class is taken mostly by seniors.  He said physics is important in aviation and he wants to get ahead.  He said his future plans include becoming an aerospace engineer and working for NASA or another space program.

"I was really impressed by him," Rouley said, "He will far surpass what I'm doing."

This press release is courtesy of Dundee-Crown High School.