In 2025, the AMA District I Outreach Team acquired more than 100 FAA grant-funded Discovery Drone Kits from AMA. During team participation in airport air shows, STEM expos, and club events, we offer kits to local STEM educators and clubs.
The following report came from Monique Coté, a robotics teacher at Somerset Berkley Regional High School in Somerset, Massachusetts, who recently passed the AMA event manager (EM) test:
I was thrilled to receive 15 drone kits, along with program videos and lesson plans, from the AMA District I vice president. During April and May 2026, six high school students—two girls and four boys—participated in the after-school Drone Pilots Club. We organized a drone pilot Google classroom to provide structure and focus for activities and to post resource information. The club met six times for sessions that covered drone safety, The Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST) exam, drone building, and first flights, as well as designing and setting up an indoor rally flight course.
Students learned to fly basic maneuvers and difficult patterns, such as flying a square without yaw at a fixed height from the floor, flying a Figure Eight, flying through the rally obstacle course that they created, and more. Each of the students completed flight logs and passed the TRUST exam as a contingency to take a drone home.
Thanks, AMA, for enough seeds to grow a fun, educational, and enriching STEM activity that I can repeat in 2027.
Thank you, Monique, for this great report and for contributing to aeromodeling not only as a teacher but as an AMA EM!
