WFTV, AirTran Donate School Supplies To Aviation Students
Posted: 8:36 am EDT August 21, 2007Updated: 9:45 am EDT August 21, 2007
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- WFTV 9 Family Connection has teamed up with AirTran Airways Tuesday morning to help students start the school year off with the right tools.Nearly 200 students at Oakridge High are getting supplies that some of them didn't have when school started Monday. A new backpack and a box full of everything from pencils and pens to paper and calculators.
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When the bell rang at Oakridge High School, students in the aviation program were in for a big surprise. AirTran Airways employees walked in with backpacks and boxes full of school supplies.The airline teamed up with WFTV 9 Family Connection to donate more than $10,000 worth of school supplies to students aspiring to join the aviation field. It's part of an ongoing campaign to lend a hand to youth in the Orange County area."I think its nice that you guys come in and give us pencils and sharpeners and everything we need because being the second day of school, they're probably gonna tell us what we need now," said Adonnis Franklin, and Oakridge High student.Throughout the school year the students will participate in hands on aviation training through various field trips to Orlando International Airport. In the classroom they have a 'smartboard', an electronic chalk board that will allow students to see first hand how aviation works."What it's going to do is give us an opportunity to give the kids a first-hand exposure to aviation and aerospace," said Eugene Deboles, the aviation teacher.The principal at Oakridge said her students come from working class neighborhoods. And their teacher said some of these students received a gift Tuesday they wouldn't otherwise have."Many of these kids are in homes where the parents work more than one job, so this exposure is going to be tremendous for them," Deboles said.Channel 9 learned that students from the hotel and hospitality program will also be getting school supplies throughout the day.
RELATED CONTENT: WFTV 9 Family Connection's "I Am The One" SectionWhen the bell rang at Oakridge High School, students in the aviation program were in for a big surprise. AirTran Airways employees walked in with backpacks and boxes full of school supplies.The airline teamed up with WFTV 9 Family Connection to donate more than $10,000 worth of school supplies to students aspiring to join the aviation field. It's part of an ongoing campaign to lend a hand to youth in the Orange County area."I think its nice that you guys come in and give us pencils and sharpeners and everything we need because being the second day of school, they're probably gonna tell us what we need now," said Adonnis Franklin, and Oakridge High student.Throughout the school year the students will participate in hands on aviation training through various field trips to Orlando International Airport. In the classroom they have a 'smartboard', an electronic chalk board that will allow students to see first hand how aviation works."What it's going to do is give us an opportunity to give the kids a first-hand exposure to aviation and aerospace," said Eugene Deboles, the aviation teacher.The principal at Oakridge said her students come from working class neighborhoods. And their teacher said some of these students received a gift Tuesday they wouldn't otherwise have."Many of these kids are in homes where the parents work more than one job, so this exposure is going to be tremendous for them," Deboles said.Channel 9 learned that students from the hotel and hospitality program will also be getting school supplies throughout the day.
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