St. Michael School Using Authentic Learning with Area Firefighter and Airline Pilot

Saint Michael's School (SMS) first and fifth grade students adopted a local firefighter and airline pilot to learn what it means to do their job.

The first grade students, adopted the firefighter, while the fifth grade students adopted the airline pilot.
The first graders recently learned about fire safety through reading and classroom lessons, but by adopting a fire-fighter they were able to learn firsthand knowledge about what his job entails.
Firefighter Lieutenant RJ Stachnik, of Orland Park, shared safety tips such as running to a window and yelling for help if they are stuck in a burning building without any exits. He talked about how it is important for families to have two fire escape plans set up. Stachnik also showed the children his equipment and explained why he has to wear all of it and how he uses it.
The SMS fifth graders welcomed Southwest Airline Pilot, Ken Laundrie, of Orland Park to their classroom. He introduced the students to various topics and skills related to being a pilot. Students learn about airport codes and decoding them, states/capitals, time zones, geography, and aerodynamics. When Laundrie was away on his flights, the classroom would track him using flightaware.comand calculate his mileage.
"The adopt program shows the students the science and skills that they learn actually being applied to in a specific profession," says Ms. Michael's, SMS fifth grade teacher. "This is a great source of authentic learning."