Lewis County pre-K students learn about aviation on field trip to North Central West Virginia Airport

While she and other teachers from Peterson-Central have taken students on the same field trip in the past, it’s not done every year, Rittenhouse said.

“We have to make some effort to get them out into the community to see what’s available to grow up and do, and this they were interested in, so I said, ‘Let’s go to the airport,’” she said.

Before the children made their way out to the runway, Transportation Security Administration agents showed them through the terminal, including the different facets of the passenger screening process.

Students were shown how driver’s licenses glow under black light, and then they were taken through three stages of metal detection. The first stage screened luggage, then came body scanners, and lastly students were shown how a wand can detect metal even when it can’t be seen.

The children then were led outside by Josh Minear, airline and security operations manger, who showed them how airplane fires are doused.

Minear demonstrated the water cannon on a large rig made by Oshkosh, which also makes military vehicles, and explained how the probe on top of the fire truck is used to tear a hole in the fuselage of a plane so nobody has to go inside to douse the flames with a hand-held extinguisher or hose.

While the children were outside, two airplanes and a helicopter took off from the runway.

Students also were given the opportunity to get into the co-pilot seat of an airplane. They learned from Civil Air Patrol pilots how they operate the plane’s wings and utilize instruments inside the cockpit to maneuver through the skies.

The Civil Air Patrol is a U.S. Air Force civilian auxiliary program that assists with search and rescue, disaster observation and aviation education. CAP has existed since World War II.

“We love to offer the airplane to them to see it, to get the excitement and the joy of it, but also you never know (if) one of these young children might have an opportunity to see an airplane and later on in life (and) be so excited about it that they go into the aviation industry.” said CAP Clarksburg Squadron Pilot Samuel Harrold.

Teaching students about aviation benefits not only the Air Force, but the aviation community as a whole, Harrold said.

This is because there is currently a nationwide shortage of pilots due in part to an expansion in the aerospace industry over the past 15 years.

“Airlines are growing worldwide, and travel is growing and there’s a need for pilots,” Harrold said.

The airport is also home to Fairmont State University’s pilot program where students can learn how to fly aircraft.

Of the students who attended Thursday’s field trip, three expressed interest in becoming a pilot to Rittenhouse.

When asked why she’d like to be a pilot, Sloan Smith said, “because I like airplanes and I like how they take off, and they fly.”

She also said she wants to learn how to fly in order to travel the world.