Columbia High School promotes STEM programs with helicopter landing

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Pilots with the non-profit organization the “Celebrate Freedom Foundation” landed an AH-1F Attack Helicopter onto Columbia High School’s football field with hundreds of students looking on.

The goal of the flyover is to encourage students to enroll in Richland School District One’s BLAST Magnet Program — a part of the STEM Program that focuses on opportunities in national defense and aerospace.

Dr. Joy Obidike is Richland One’s STEM Consultant.

“This district has been awarded $5 million for a secondary STEM and Aerospace Magnet Programming, but so many of the students are unaware, so we want to raise awareness, properly educate, but do it in a way that’s creative and fun, and what’s more fun than a helicopter,” Obidike says.

The program, she says, is also a great fit for students who may or may not want to go to college after graduation.

“A lot don’t want to attend university. So we’ve got to figure out how can we get kids ready, how can they be prepared, and what options can we create? Well the tech economy, the STEM economy, and aerospace — those are huge. With salaries starting at 6 figures, with hardly any college education required, we found that many of the students here had no idea that these were options,” says Obidike.

According to Richland One, STEM also offers biomedical, cybersecurity, and engineering programs.

Ranyya Goldsmith and Taniah Cummings are seniors in the biomedical STEM program.

“We do labs  to get blood from the arms. It’s very engaging and active,” says Goldsmith.

“I really love it because I was always interested in the medical field so for them to have a program finally here was something really nice for me. We got to look into animals and understand our body systems which was really cool to me,” says Cummings.

Richland One launched three new school-within-a-school BLAST magnet programs in August. The new elementary aerospace magnet program is located at Watkins-Nance, the new middle school aerospace space magnet program is located at W.A. Perry, and the new national defense-themed magnet program is located at Columbia High.

Richland One officials say the programs are free to students and are funded by a nearly $15 million grant that was awarded to the district by the Department of Education in 2022.

Obidike says the application period for the magnet programs is open twice a year district-wide.

“We want them smart, we want them excited. And an excited and inspired student can learn anything,” she says.

Students can begin applying for the 2024-2025 school year on December 11th.