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Roosevelt Sailors Teach STEM Students
(May 1, 2011) |
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| | NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (NNS - 4/28/2011) -- USS Theodore
Roosevelt (CVN 71) Sailors hosted fifth-grade students from
Campostella Elementary for a tour of the ship's Light
Industrial Facility (LIFAC) in Newport News, Va., April 27. |
Campostella is a Norfolk, Va., Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
school, and the tour provided the Sailors an
opportunity to show the students how they use
technology to do their jobs. The tour consisted
of demonstrations related to Campostella's STEM
program.
Twenty-four Sailors from TR's
Aviation Intermediate Maintenance Department
were on hand to explain the technical and
scientific correlation of each piece of
equipment they use and how they use it to
sandblast water-tight doors, engrave signs,
build wooden plaques and boxes, and rework
motors for shipboard fire main and salt water
pumps. |
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April 27, 2011 -- Machinist's Mate 2nd Class Chad Clark, assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), working at the Northrop Grumman's Light Industrial Facility, demonstrates how pump and valve equipment are repaired to students from Campostella Elementary School in Norfolk, Va. Students are touring the facility to correlate Campostella's science, technology, engineering and mathematics program to the industrial work Sailors do daily. |
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"School, at times, can be abstract," said Kristal Moses,
Campostella fifth-grade teacher. "Having the children come
in to experience the STEM fields applied first hand can put
them into the frame of mind to grasp a concept they normally
only see in a text book, equation or someone just talks
about."
One of the nine "stations" on the tour
featured welding. Each child donned protective gear that
allowed them to safely see the bright arcs that weld two
heavy-duty pieces of metal together.
"The welding
portion of the tour definitely kept everyone engaged since
we had to try on the equipment and actually use it to view
the demonstration," said Moses. "Such an opportunity helps
our students to use their five senses to experience
processes which they are not normally familiar with."
The students also wore protective gear to view the
Sailors welding up close, according to Lt. Richard Martinez,
officer in charge of LIFAC.
"We ceased production for
the day to ensure the safety of everyone visiting, since
LIFAC is an industrial environment," said Martinez. "TR's
Safety Department visited our facility to give insight on
eliminating dangers that could occur during the visit.
Everyone was issued PPE to use."
Martinez said the
opportunity TR afforded Campostella to come to LIFAC
benefited both the students and his Sailors.
"Our
Sailors strived to show how the different STEM fields are
applied to the machines they use and services they provide
by LIFAC Sailors while accomplishing their jobs," said
Martinez. "It was also a great opportunity to have my
hardworking Sailors set a positive example and mentor these
students to tie up the 'loose ends' of hands on learning."
The Sailors drove home the point that the water tight
doors close extremely tight and are ultimately designed to
keep a ship from sinking. Parent chaperones who visited the
facility along with the children appreciated the effort TR
invested in Campostella's students.
"Opportunities
such as this help our children to realize other options for
a career," said Delvon Mack, a parent chaperone with
Campostella. "The Sailors were able to break down Navy
terminology and relate it to changing oil, which the
children could grasp."
In accordance with the
school's wishes, LIFAC Sailors taught the students 10
technological words relating to the STEM fields to include
hydraulic, calibration and water tight. Before leaving the
facility, every visitor received a commemorative piece of
wood shaped in the likeness of TR's flight deck that was
stained and engraved with the school's name and the TR
emblem.
Campostella Elementary is part of many
community relations projects TR and its Sailors participate
in on a regular basis in the Hampton Roads area to manifest
the Navy's motto "A Global Force for Good."
Theodore
Roosevelt is currently undergoing its scheduled mid-life
Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH) at Newport News
Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries.
During the 39-month maintenance period, TR's fuel will be
replenished and significant upgrades will be made to the
ship's combat and communication systems to extend the ship's
service life for 25 or more years. All Nimitz-class aircraft
carriers go through RCOH near the mid-point of their 50-year
life cycle. | |
Article and photo By
Navy MCS Seaman Cory C. Asato
USS Theodore Roosevelt Public Affairs
Copyright 2011
Reprinted from
Navy News Service
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