5th Grade Leadership Takes Off with Southwest Adopt-A-Pilot

Have you ever heard the phrase “natural born leader”? While there certainly are people who seem innately inclined to take leadership roles, at Severn we believe that any student can be a leader. For us, leadership is a set of skills that must be taught, modeled, practiced and tested just like any other discipline. Lower School teachers Ms. Lauren Kitchen and Ms. Gail Lapinski use Southwest Airline’s Adopt-A-Pilot program as a springboard to teach these essential leadership skills as part of our 5th grade character curriculum.

What is Adopt-A-Pilot

Introduced by Southwest Airlines in 1997, Adopt-A-Pilot is a program that seeks to educate children through aviation themed activities related to science, math, geography and other core subjects. While the curricular focus of the program is STEM related, it also helps kids develop life skills, research careers, find their strengths and develop character traits that will help them succeed in the future.

Each class “adopts” a pilot who visits regularly and helps students explore the life of a professional aviator. The program provides extension activities for students to complete before and after the visits. They talk about everything from geography and how to calculate mileage to what it means to be tenacious and never give up. Our 5th grade teachers embrace the heart of this program and use its themes to encourage positive leadership in our students throughout the year.


Cultivating Leadership with Adopt-A-Pilot Values

Before the pilot visits begin, Ms. Lapinksi and Ms. Kitchin introduce the Adopt-A-Pilot values to their 5th grade classes. These values are: fearlessness, leadership, imagination, gratitude, honesty and tenacity. Particularly for 5th graders who are in their last year in Lower School, focusing on these values explicitly helps them develop ownership over their roles as leaders in the Lower School community. Our 5th graders not only learn what these words mean, but also explore ways to demonstrate these values and learn how to recognize them in others.

Ms. Kitchin explains,
“They’ll notice these qualities in characters from books we read or in their classmates. FLIGHT really sticks with them. They make connections outside of themselves and many start to internalize the concepts and recognize themselves as leaders.”

Southwest pilot uses a model airplane to demonstrate to Severn's 5ht grade class about aerodynamics.


Our Pilot, Mr. Jeff Erskine!

Our “adopted” pilot is Severn parent Mr. Jeff Erskine. Mr. Erskine has flown planes for over 25 years. After 8 years of active duty in the US Air Force, flying 48 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm and another 87 during Operation Desert Shield, he has flown for Southwest Airlines since 1995. Starting in January, Mr. Erskine has visited our 5th graders every other week as his schedule allows. He brings videos from his flights, itineraries, and plane models to explore different aviation concepts with the kids.

Southwest pilot shows a video of one of his flights to Severn's 5th grade class, modeling how to steer the plane.

On each visit he talks about a different topic from aerodynamics to time zones and everything in between. He really connects with the kids and they are eager to ask questions and share their ideas both with the class and with him. Mr. Erskine models FLIGHT values for our students and they truly respect and look up to him.

Mr. Erskine comments on his role in the program,
“The first day I meet with the class is introductory. I tell the 5th graders that when I was their age, I really wanted to be a pilot. While the Southwest Airlines Adopt-A-Pilot is STEM oriented, it’s also somewhat of a catalyst to those 10-11 year olds, letting them know that it’s not too early to start thinking about a career choice. But, in order to do that, [I tell them to] 'Study hard in school, listen to your parents, and listen to your teachers!'"

Southwest pilot talks one on one with a Severn 5th grader about aerodynamics.

Helping Our Students Find the Leader Within

This program is just one example of how we teach character and leadership skills every day in our Lower School classrooms. Our teachers find creative ways to weave character education into programs like Adopt-A-Pilot and inspire students to be the best versions of themselves. They take every opportunity to give our students great leadership examples and the tools they need to find their leader within.
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