Engineering Explorer Post #3142

Engineering Exploring Mentors Needed for Explorer Post #3142

2003 - 2004 School Year

Explorer Post #3142 conducted a Young Eagles flying experience activity in the fall. Some post members and some other students from Canoga High went to Whiteman Air Park, where the Van Nuys Chapter of the Experimental Aviation Association has been flying hundreds of youth each month, in order to introduce them to the fun of General Aviation. The students were taken up for a flight from Whitemen Air Park, to Magic Mountain, and then back.

2002 - 2003 School Year

November, 2002
Advisor John Gatej put on a weekend Computer Programming Course that was very popular with the Post leaders. Advisor/Teacher Debbie Bennett told us that the students from this class, in turn, spent a lot of hours in the computer lab teaching what they learned to other students.

April 12, 2003
The Post has been primarily involved in obtaining some familiarity with robotics and control, using the Lego kit purchased in the fall. Advisers include two leading science teachers, a math teacher who was a sponsor of an earlier Post here at Canoga High, and a career counselor. The extracurricular load carried by the better students does not leave a lot of time for another activity. The Post will try to make this year more rewarding, and better organized. Last week, there were school-wide contests for paper airplanes, egg-dropping (from the top of the gym), and catapult launch of an eight-pound weight. The Post captured a first and a third for paper airplane time of flight, first in the egg-drop, and first in the catapult. In effect, the Post placed first in every event which they entered. The student newspaper took note of this, and these events were well attended by the student body, so the Post got some good press. The Post also won something over $100, and are committed to working at the fair next month to earn some more.

May 3, 2003
Things seem to be slowing down. This is partly because several members are taking AP tests, and Advisor Debbie Bennett wants to make sure they have more time for their studies. Members have been trying to recruit new members, and four or five potential new members showed up at the meeting this past Thursday; they had been somewhat impressed by our team showings in the "engineering" contests last month. Meetings have been changed back to lunchtime, because more students seem willing to attend then. The challenge is getting anything significant done during the lunch period. Next week, the Post will be selling food at International Day on the campus (Wednesday lunch). The following week, they will man a food cart at lunch time all week. This pays handsomely, and gives the Post more visibility. It seems to be well enough organized. Post Advisor Bob Egermeier will show up every day. The Post took a new vote on their interests for the future, and rocketry has climbed to the top. The small group so far this year has gotten some benefit from the robot kits. Advisor John Gatej's software/computer sessions were popular, and several people would like to have some such things continued. Unfortunately, there do not seem to be any Saturdays available for the rest of the year, when the interested students could come. Hopefully, the classes can be conducted on Saturdays in the summer. Some of those interested are taking summer school, or courses at Pierce College (maybe both) and others have some non-overlapping vacation plans.

May 20, 2003
The Post has earned more than $300 this year and may not need any financial assistance from the Engineers' Council next year! Last week, they ran lunch carts for the cafeteria all week. This is an opportunity the school provides for all the student organizations to make some money. Four members a day, for five one-hour periods, got $200. The week before, the post put up a booth for International Day, selling pizza, ice cream, pop,and garlic bread! They set prices too low, but made some money. The Post is joining with all the school science classes next month for a field trip to the LA Zoo. School buses will be provided, and there will be plenty of teachers going. Sponsors will be welcome, however. The Post hopes to get some exposure to the other science students, and maybe drum up some more members. The Post had a booth at the school's organizations day. Several new students showed up, but no one has paid any dues yet. Meetings will be at noontime, so that more can attend. The difficulty is that there is not enough time at these meetings. Plans are to join a Young Eagles Program event on 20 September. Post members will be taken up by EAA pilots on orientation flights in order to introduce them to the excitement of general aviation. At least a couple of the members have expressed interest, and Advisor Bob Egermeier will be one of the adults. Hopefully, more members will sign up at the meeting this coming Thursday.

2001 - 2002 School Year

Explorer Post #3142 conducted its first year of operation during the 2001-2002 school year, under the leadership of Advisor Bob Egermeier (IEEE). Classroom lectures, demonstrations, projects, and organization meetings with the post officers were held throughout the year, and a field trip was conducted to the Santa Monica Museum of Flying. Solar powered cars were built and tested during the summer.

Previous Life

Prior to being sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Engineers' Council, the Canoga Hish Explorer Post was sponsored by Boeing Rocketdyne, under the leadership of Susan Beatty, Joe Berroteran, Lesli Blake, Rob Mawer, Bob Tarn, and other Boeing employees. Below are photo records of its activities during that period.