November 29, 2024 • 12 mins
The Florida Statewide Drone Expo is being hosted Saturday (12/7) at Azalea Middle School in St.Petersburg. We speak with Willis Reese, who heads the school's magnet aerospace program, about the expo and about their aerospace program as well as the Civil Air Patrol, which has a campus chapter.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird here Beyond the News. Well, drones have come
along in recent years and are very much a thing.
A lot of people are into them for both commercial
and for recreational purposes. There's an expo going on at
Azalea Middle School in Saint Petersburg, the Sunshine State Drone Expo,
and it takes place Saturday, December seventh. We're talking with
(00:22):
the organizer of that expo. His name is Willis Reese.
He is an instructor at Azalea Middle School and he
is also the head of the civil air Patrol program
at that school. Willis Reese, thank you very much for
joining us on Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Well, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Well, before we get into the nuts and bolts of
the expo, let's talk a little bit about civil air patrol.
I know about civil air patrol because when I was
in middle school, high school, or they call it junior
high end. But when I was in secondary education being educated,
my friends, a lot of them were Air Force prats
and a lot of them were involved in civil air patrol.
(01:02):
But for a lot of people who may not have
been exposed to civil air patrol, talk with us about
what that is and what kind of role it plays
and what kind of opportunities it gives young people teenagers
who are involved in that.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, well, just like you, I grew up in the
Air Force. My dad was Air Force. I was born
at McDill Air Force Base, and Civil Air Patrol was
always kind of a part of my life in the background.
Just because they are a congressionally chartered auxiliary to the
United States Air Force. They've got three main purposes, and
one is emergency services, the other is aerospace education, and
(01:39):
then cadet programs, and so everybody of all ages, you know,
from twelve up can really be involved. And if you're
coming in through a school program, as long as you're
in middle school age, regardless of what that age is,
it could be as low as maybe ten, then the
kids can come in through a school program, but they
(01:59):
can get involved in all aspects of this because we
educate the communities around us on aerospace education, emergency services,
FEMA and different national agencies may task us to do
things after natural disasters and things like that, and even
some of the kids can get involved depending on their
(02:20):
training level. And then of course the cadet programs is
what we're focusing on, where we're giving the kids a
lot of leadership and character development along with tons of
STEM education and you know, just really fortifying their ability
to move forward and do well in high school, to
do well in college, and then maybe even become a
(02:42):
community leader of some sort at some point.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Now, I have to think that this is a good
on ramp to get into any sort of aviation career,
whether it's in civilian or in military aviation, or certainly
the Air Force.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Oh yeah, yeah. The part of the program with the
Cadet is orientation flights, and so the kids can come
into the program and they can get five front seat
orientation flights where they can actually get up in a
civil Air Patrol plane with a civil Air Patrol pilot
and fly the plane, you know. So they're taught what
(03:17):
they need to know about the plane, and then they
take them up to an altitude it's safe for them
to fly the plane, and then they'll allow them to
get experience actually handling an aircraft. So it's a big
motivating factor for a lot of these kids. The first
time they fly, and you can just see the lights
come on and they're like, Wow, I want to do this,
you know in my life. So it's really cool. Now.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
The reason you host a Civil Air Patrol chapter at
Azilia Middle School and you are having this drone expo
is it sort of ties into your aerospace program there.
You're sort of a magnet school in that field. Tell
us about what you cover and about that aerospace program
at Azilia Middle Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Well, the program has been in existence for several years
at Zella Middle School, but once I arrived, we kicked
it in the high gear. I was the first person
to take over that program. That has actual licenses in
flight and in aviation, so I've got FA licensed to
(04:20):
fly private airplanes. I also have an Advanced Ground Instructor's certificate,
So we literally have an aviation program there that teaches
seventh graders and eighth graders how to legitimately fly an airplane.
You know, if they were any older, we could probably
sign off and get them their you know, their tests
(04:43):
taken so that they could actually fly. But given that
their middle school aged, they're getting an early opportunity to
you know, to to get on field trips with us
and go out to the airport and see real planes.
We have two simulation units at the at the school
there where we simulate actual flight and it's like you're
sitting in like the plane, it feels like with the
(05:07):
wrap around screens and everything else, and it's just amazing.
You know, if you haven't seen something like that, you
really should go online and look us up and you
probably get to see all that. Especially on our Facebook page.
The ISAU Middle School Engineering and Aviation page has lots
(05:27):
of pictures of our kids in the simulators flying them
and videos of the kids actually performing these tasks and
it's the real deal.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
And just in passing. Of course, there are actually companies
that make flight simulators that are used by the military
and by commercial aviation in the Tampa Bay area. So
it again illustrates what an on ramp this is to
these youngsters to get an exposure to and the opportunity
hopefully in the future to be part of the aviation industry.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Oh yeah, because not only just in real flight, but
in simulation and drones, and there's so much to be done.
We have, you know, several major airports here in the area,
and you know, of course we've got a lot of
military in the area, so there's all kinds of opportunities
to get involved here in the Tampa Bay area. In
(06:17):
the aviation industry.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
So let's talk about the Drone Expo. This is taking
place from nine to five Saturday, the seventh of December,
and what are you going to have out there. I'm
sure you're going to have a lot of exhibits, a
lot of things that are going to be very interesting,
some competitions. Tell us about it all.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Yeah, Well, this is the fourth annual event and it
seems to have grown every year. Be interesting to see
what happens now. We've had a couple of hurricanes, but
you know, we're still trying to build every year on
what we've done in the past. And we started out,
of course, wanting to promote what we were doing with
drones and things at our own school, and then it
(06:56):
grew from there. It became tied to the FAA's National
Drone Safety Week at one point, and then they've kind
of moved that target around a little bit so it's
no longer tied to that, but the idea is still
there because we're very much now in liege with the
FAA when it comes to drone safety and and they
(07:18):
will in fact be one of the Prince centers out
at our event. The key note speaker will be from
the FAA this year, and so safety is big. Safety
education is big. And then we got interested in, you know,
what good drones do in society because we wanted people
(07:39):
to know, you know, that they're not just out there.
If you see a drone in your neighborhood, it doesn't
necessarily mean that somebody's spying on you or you know,
some other craziness. There's a lot of good things in
the community going on with drones. So we started inviting
people like Duke Energy and the Florida Highway Patrol, Saint
Petersburg Police Department, department, lots of different drone vendors that
(08:04):
are involved in anything from Department of Defense contracting all
the way to you know local you know, businesses that
wash and spray with drones and you know, clean houses
and different things. So we're trying to acclimate the general
public of all ages on, you know, just exactly the
(08:24):
types of careers that are available and the good things
that drones are doing in our communities.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
What are some of the things, What are some of
the exhibits and opportunities that will be there as far
as doing something interactive or watching competitions tell us tell
Us about those things that are going to be going on.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Okay, yeah, we're going to have a lot of really
amazing things going on main our main stage, which is
our football field behind the school. We're going to have
all day drone racing going on with a first person
view drone racing team out of Tampa called the Our
City Multi Roders Club. The local Saint Petersburg area has
(09:06):
an a m a RCY Remote control flying club called Sparks,
and they'll have a couple of really awesome flyers out
there doing a lot of aerobatics. And if you've ever
been to an air show, you know, like out at
the Base or something you've seen or at Sunshine I'm sorry,
sun and Fun Flying. If you've ever been to some
(09:27):
of these local shows, you've seen lots of really cool aerobatics,
but you've never seen aerobatics quite like they can do
with these RC planes. It's incredible. They rewrite the laws
of physics practically. And then in our in our gymnasium,
it will be the first time we've had this full
blown aerial drone competition that's going to be hosted by
(09:51):
fung Ucation out of Tampa. This gives teams opportunities to
compete on a game field to see which team will
reign Supreme and with the go advancing to RAC Championship
tournaments that start occurring in March.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
If you're a parent and maybe you have a youngster
in the middle school high school age group, and they're
not necessarily part of this program at Azalea Middle and
you think this might be something that they might enjoy
or take an interest in. What are some of the
things you would recommend that you point them towards the expo.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Well, if you're interested in being a school like ours,
we are a magnet school. We can accept students from
about Olmerton in Penella's County south so anything from about
the lower mid County southbound. So if someone was interested
and they lived in that area, they would just simply
(10:46):
need to contact a school and get next steps from us,
because you know we're in that process right now. In fact,
in early January, the application process for Magnet schools in
Penelas County will start to take place, and so it's
important to get involved immediately if you think you might
have an interest.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Once again, this is taking place Saturday, December seventh, nine
am to five pm at Azalea Middle School. Go ahead
and get the location information, parking information. And it's a
free event too, let's emphasize that as well.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Yeah, and you can google us Sunshine State Drone Expo
and you can find our main page there. But the
school location is at seventy eight fifty five twenty second
Avenue North in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and it's on the
football field. So all you got to do is park
in front of the school and follow the signs. We'll
(11:42):
have lots of people to show you which way to
go when you land there, so it's an exciting time
and lots will be going on all day. We'll have
food trucks and ice cream and all kinds of different
things going on, so it's fun for everybody.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Willis Race He is the head of the engineering department
and a teacher at Azalea Middle School in Saint Petersburg
and is also the organizer of the Sunshine State Drone Expo,
which is taking place there Saturday, December seventh from nine
to five. Wi less Rees, thank you very much for
joining us on Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Thank you for having me
Gordon Bird here Beyond the News. Well, drones have come
along in recent years and are very much a thing.
A lot of people are into them for both commercial
and for recreational purposes. There's an expo going on at
Azalea Middle School in Saint Petersburg, the Sunshine State Drone Expo,
and it takes place Saturday, December seventh. We're talking with
(00:22):
the organizer of that expo. His name is Willis Reese.
He is an instructor at Azalea Middle School and he
is also the head of the civil air Patrol program
at that school. Willis Reese, thank you very much for
joining us on Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Well, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Well, before we get into the nuts and bolts of
the expo, let's talk a little bit about civil air patrol.
I know about civil air patrol because when I was
in middle school, high school, or they call it junior
high end. But when I was in secondary education being educated,
my friends, a lot of them were Air Force prats
and a lot of them were involved in civil air patrol.
(01:02):
But for a lot of people who may not have
been exposed to civil air patrol, talk with us about
what that is and what kind of role it plays
and what kind of opportunities it gives young people teenagers
who are involved in that.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, well, just like you, I grew up in the
Air Force. My dad was Air Force. I was born
at McDill Air Force Base, and Civil Air Patrol was
always kind of a part of my life in the background.
Just because they are a congressionally chartered auxiliary to the
United States Air Force. They've got three main purposes, and
one is emergency services, the other is aerospace education, and
(01:39):
then cadet programs, and so everybody of all ages, you know,
from twelve up can really be involved. And if you're
coming in through a school program, as long as you're
in middle school age, regardless of what that age is,
it could be as low as maybe ten, then the
kids can come in through a school program, but they
(01:59):
can get involved in all aspects of this because we
educate the communities around us on aerospace education, emergency services,
FEMA and different national agencies may task us to do
things after natural disasters and things like that, and even
some of the kids can get involved depending on their
(02:20):
training level. And then of course the cadet programs is
what we're focusing on, where we're giving the kids a
lot of leadership and character development along with tons of
STEM education and you know, just really fortifying their ability
to move forward and do well in high school, to
do well in college, and then maybe even become a
(02:42):
community leader of some sort at some point.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Now, I have to think that this is a good
on ramp to get into any sort of aviation career,
whether it's in civilian or in military aviation, or certainly
the Air Force.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Oh yeah, yeah. The part of the program with the
Cadet is orientation flights, and so the kids can come
into the program and they can get five front seat
orientation flights where they can actually get up in a
civil Air Patrol plane with a civil Air Patrol pilot
and fly the plane, you know. So they're taught what
(03:17):
they need to know about the plane, and then they
take them up to an altitude it's safe for them
to fly the plane, and then they'll allow them to
get experience actually handling an aircraft. So it's a big
motivating factor for a lot of these kids. The first
time they fly, and you can just see the lights
come on and they're like, Wow, I want to do this,
you know in my life. So it's really cool. Now.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
The reason you host a Civil Air Patrol chapter at
Azilia Middle School and you are having this drone expo
is it sort of ties into your aerospace program there.
You're sort of a magnet school in that field. Tell
us about what you cover and about that aerospace program
at Azilia Middle Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Well, the program has been in existence for several years
at Zella Middle School, but once I arrived, we kicked
it in the high gear. I was the first person
to take over that program. That has actual licenses in
flight and in aviation, so I've got FA licensed to
(04:20):
fly private airplanes. I also have an Advanced Ground Instructor's certificate,
So we literally have an aviation program there that teaches
seventh graders and eighth graders how to legitimately fly an airplane.
You know, if they were any older, we could probably
sign off and get them their you know, their tests
(04:43):
taken so that they could actually fly. But given that
their middle school aged, they're getting an early opportunity to
you know, to to get on field trips with us
and go out to the airport and see real planes.
We have two simulation units at the at the school
there where we simulate actual flight and it's like you're
sitting in like the plane, it feels like with the
(05:07):
wrap around screens and everything else, and it's just amazing.
You know, if you haven't seen something like that, you
really should go online and look us up and you
probably get to see all that. Especially on our Facebook page.
The ISAU Middle School Engineering and Aviation page has lots
(05:27):
of pictures of our kids in the simulators flying them
and videos of the kids actually performing these tasks and
it's the real deal.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
And just in passing. Of course, there are actually companies
that make flight simulators that are used by the military
and by commercial aviation in the Tampa Bay area. So
it again illustrates what an on ramp this is to
these youngsters to get an exposure to and the opportunity
hopefully in the future to be part of the aviation industry.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Oh yeah, because not only just in real flight, but
in simulation and drones, and there's so much to be done.
We have, you know, several major airports here in the area,
and you know, of course we've got a lot of
military in the area, so there's all kinds of opportunities
to get involved here in the Tampa Bay area. In
(06:17):
the aviation industry.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
So let's talk about the Drone Expo. This is taking
place from nine to five Saturday, the seventh of December,
and what are you going to have out there. I'm
sure you're going to have a lot of exhibits, a
lot of things that are going to be very interesting,
some competitions. Tell us about it all.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Yeah, Well, this is the fourth annual event and it
seems to have grown every year. Be interesting to see
what happens now. We've had a couple of hurricanes, but
you know, we're still trying to build every year on
what we've done in the past. And we started out,
of course, wanting to promote what we were doing with
drones and things at our own school, and then it
(06:56):
grew from there. It became tied to the FAA's National
Drone Safety Week at one point, and then they've kind
of moved that target around a little bit so it's
no longer tied to that, but the idea is still
there because we're very much now in liege with the
FAA when it comes to drone safety and and they
(07:18):
will in fact be one of the Prince centers out
at our event. The key note speaker will be from
the FAA this year, and so safety is big. Safety
education is big. And then we got interested in, you know,
what good drones do in society because we wanted people
(07:39):
to know, you know, that they're not just out there.
If you see a drone in your neighborhood, it doesn't
necessarily mean that somebody's spying on you or you know,
some other craziness. There's a lot of good things in
the community going on with drones. So we started inviting
people like Duke Energy and the Florida Highway Patrol, Saint
Petersburg Police Department, department, lots of different drone vendors that
(08:04):
are involved in anything from Department of Defense contracting all
the way to you know local you know, businesses that
wash and spray with drones and you know, clean houses
and different things. So we're trying to acclimate the general
public of all ages on, you know, just exactly the
(08:24):
types of careers that are available and the good things
that drones are doing in our communities.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
What are some of the things, What are some of
the exhibits and opportunities that will be there as far
as doing something interactive or watching competitions tell us tell
Us about those things that are going to be going on.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Okay, yeah, we're going to have a lot of really
amazing things going on main our main stage, which is
our football field behind the school. We're going to have
all day drone racing going on with a first person
view drone racing team out of Tampa called the Our
City Multi Roders Club. The local Saint Petersburg area has
(09:06):
an a m a RCY Remote control flying club called Sparks,
and they'll have a couple of really awesome flyers out
there doing a lot of aerobatics. And if you've ever
been to an air show, you know, like out at
the Base or something you've seen or at Sunshine I'm sorry,
sun and Fun Flying. If you've ever been to some
(09:27):
of these local shows, you've seen lots of really cool aerobatics,
but you've never seen aerobatics quite like they can do
with these RC planes. It's incredible. They rewrite the laws
of physics practically. And then in our in our gymnasium,
it will be the first time we've had this full
blown aerial drone competition that's going to be hosted by
(09:51):
fung Ucation out of Tampa. This gives teams opportunities to
compete on a game field to see which team will
reign Supreme and with the go advancing to RAC Championship
tournaments that start occurring in March.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
If you're a parent and maybe you have a youngster
in the middle school high school age group, and they're
not necessarily part of this program at Azalea Middle and
you think this might be something that they might enjoy
or take an interest in. What are some of the
things you would recommend that you point them towards the expo.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Well, if you're interested in being a school like ours,
we are a magnet school. We can accept students from
about Olmerton in Penella's County south so anything from about
the lower mid County southbound. So if someone was interested
and they lived in that area, they would just simply
(10:46):
need to contact a school and get next steps from us,
because you know we're in that process right now. In fact,
in early January, the application process for Magnet schools in
Penelas County will start to take place, and so it's
important to get involved immediately if you think you might
have an interest.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Once again, this is taking place Saturday, December seventh, nine
am to five pm at Azalea Middle School. Go ahead
and get the location information, parking information. And it's a
free event too, let's emphasize that as well.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Yeah, and you can google us Sunshine State Drone Expo
and you can find our main page there. But the
school location is at seventy eight fifty five twenty second
Avenue North in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and it's on the
football field. So all you got to do is park
in front of the school and follow the signs. We'll
(11:42):
have lots of people to show you which way to
go when you land there, so it's an exciting time
and lots will be going on all day. We'll have
food trucks and ice cream and all kinds of different
things going on, so it's fun for everybody.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Willis Race He is the head of the engineering department
and a teacher at Azalea Middle School in Saint Petersburg
and is also the organizer of the Sunshine State Drone Expo,
which is taking place there Saturday, December seventh from nine
to five. Wi less Rees, thank you very much for
joining us on Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Thank you for having me
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