The arrival of the second semester initiated the revival of Poland Seminary’s Science Club. The first pioneers in this year’s extracurricular are working on a computer-operated aviation program: the GAMA (General Aviation Manufacturers Association) Student Aviation Design Contest. The parameters for the contest bring students together to program and pilot a virtual airplane. The students design their aircraft to be the most reliable in multiple situations: an increased weight from luggage, natural disasters such as storms, or other obstacles they may face. Students involved will spend six to seven weeks preparing for April 9th, the date to submit their design.

Though the activity is enjoyable and promising for experience in various subjects, the steps taken to get here had a couple of hiccups. Firstly, the director of the Science Club, Mrs. Queen, returned this prior fall from her extended absence from office. As a result, she had to settle back into the hustle and bustle of the school system, and one aspect of it was “reestablishing contacts.” For her to be capable of offering the multitude of activities that Science Club entails, Mrs. Queen needed to reconnect with her previous contacts. The combination of both resulted in the delay of the Science Club. Luckily, the bulk of Science Club activities occur in the later months of the school year.

The next issue, and the most notable, was obtaining computers that run the program. This event was done five years prior and ran the software X-Plane 10 on the library’s computers. However, this year’s program, X-Plane 12, was incompatible with those computers—or any in the school. Due to the restrictions on the school’s authorized computers, the software for the simulation can not operate on any device available at the school. The Poland School District initiated these restrictions to prevent gaming on the school’s network (e.g. YouTube thumbnails have been replaced with big blue No symbols). Therefore, no computers at Poland’s facilities were capable of launching X-Plane 12. Once knowledgeable about the situation, Mrs. Queen reached out to the Mahoning County Educational Service Center located in Canfield. From there, the center reached out to neighboring districts for loaner computers. Fortunately, they received three laptops; the school also previously loaned two joysticks from MCCTC that they graciously left the club store in 2019. However, this whole mishap resulted in a month’s delay in progress.

Now that the students have operational computers, Mrs. Queen plans on working through three phases: investigation, consulting, and practice. The only way to compete in the contest is to know your material. Therefore, students will get a feel for the program and what it entails before getting into the nitty gritty. Then, using a provided curriculum, the students will adjust the parameters of the plane. Finally, the team will practice to understand all aspects of it. As of now, there is some conflict with other after-school activities taking priority, but the group will be working hard incredibly soon for that on April 9th.