The story was originally published in The Sylva Herald on Feb. 7, 2019.
A drone photo displays the panorama of Babe Howell Field at Smoky Mountain High School’s Carr Hooper Stadium. A class on drone technology will be available at SMHS this fall. –Photo courtesy of Mary Henson.
Part of a new class at Smoky Mountain High School will be taught at 400 feet above ground.
Next semester, in fall of 2019, SMHS teacher Mary Henson will add a class on drone technology – one of the first in the state – to her repertoire. Henson teaches video and programming classes and classes on Adobe software like Premier, Photoshop and Illustrator.
Students won’t just be learning how to fly a drone, however. The course description says the class will “provide students basic information about the drone industry to gain an understanding of careers and skills in this field.” Programming with Python, learning how to read METAR weather reports and sectional charts, how to calculate load factor and density altitude, and learning about weather and radio communication are all in the syllabus.
Students will have an opportunity to earn a state license for drone use. They’ll be taking the state test for an Unmanned Aircraft Systems license with Henson as part of the class. If they want, they can also earn a Federal Aviation Administration Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate on their own. Henson said that they won’t be taking that test in class, but they’ll be learning the skills necessary to do so.
While students will initially fly the drone only around SMHS, Henson says she wants to get them involved in drone flying competitions, like one organized by NASA.
Henson explained that North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction is testing the drone class in a select few schools before considering it for statewide curriculum. Henson and Angie Dills, Career and Technical Education Director for Jackson County schools, worked with SMHS Principal Evelyn Graning to get the high school into the drone program.
Henson said that they’re looking at a few different drones, but they’ll likely choose the DJI Matrice 100, which will cost around $15,000 when fully equipped.
With an additional battery, the Matrice can achieve up to 40 minutes of flight time with an operating distance of up to 3.1 miles. In addition to the remote controller, the Matrice can be controlled by the DJI GO phone app or it is possible for users to create an app to fly the drone.
Henson believes that there’s a need for a drone technology class in the Sylva community.
“There are so many hazards that are out there for people who aren’t educated,” Henson said. “And there are so many kids that have drones that really don’t know what they’re doing and the hazards they can cause.”
Every year, SMHS’ Career and Technical Education department gets federal money for equipment and classroom supplies. Any money not spent by the end of the year is pooled and used to buy any items the budget wouldn’t cover. Henson said she got the idea for the new class when Dills bought her a Karma Hero 6 drone using such leftover funds after the 2017-2018 academic year.
“After I got the drone, I started doing my research to figure out what I do with it, because I had never even thought about using a drone before,” Henson said. She took a class at Southwestern Community College and later took the Part 107 to earn an FAA license. She has since been using the drone for her video class.
The drone class will begin in fall of 2019, but Henson plans to continue using it in the spring semester and beyond.
