Educating the Next Generation of Controllers

Educating the Next Generation of Controllers: PWC Presents to the ACE Academy at LCI

BY JODY CHESLEY, BOS CONTROLLER

On Wednesday, July 13, 2022, I had the opportunity to attend the Aerospace Career Education (ACE) Academy at Laconia Airport (LCI) in Laconia, NH. The ACE Academy is a summer camp designed to educate students on the many different career opportunities within the aerospace industry.

I teamed up with Chip Lorig, Staff Support Specialist at Boston TRACON (A90) to present to ten students in the air traffic control group. We started with a PowerPoint presentation showcasing the differences between towers, TRACONs and centers. We included radar replays from Boston Tower (BOS) and A90 where we explained the traffic flows and what was going on in the replay. We then passed out different types of aeronautical charts for the students to look over and explained the importance of them in the air traffic field. We provided iPads and tablets to the kids so they could play various Air Traffic Control games. These games simulated the tower, TRACON and center environments.

The last (and favorite by far) activity we did was a table top exercise. One student would role play as the ground controller and another student the local controller. The rest of the students held onto toy airplanes and were assigned to be either arrival or departure aircraft. We walked them through taxi, take off and landing phraseology as they simulated the tower environment.

We closed the presentation with a question and answer session. I was surprised at the mature questions asked by the young students. It was such a great experience to work with young kids who have great passion and enthusiasm for their futures!

The WATCH - Fall 2022 | Page 13