Aviation

The Boy's Rocket Club went to Aviation Day at Seatac Airport two weeks ago.  Jack when along as a chaperone -- I think he was just as excited as the Boy to walk on the tarmac and see the planes up close.  One summer while he was in college, Jack worked at Eastern Airlines in Atlanta helping them audit flight maintenance records.  He wanted to throw luggage (if I recall correctly) to help build his strength for the swimming season.  Instead, he got a desk job.  In either case, he got to be around airplanes.

So the Boy had fun at Aviation Day.  The next day, Jack, the Boy and I ran into one of our neighbor's at the grocery store.  Jack has seen this man's son at Aviation Day, and told the father how polite and nice his son behaved in public.  Nick is a freshman at Aviation High School at Boeing Field.  Aviation High School is run by Shoreline Public Schools, and has a partnership with Seattle Public Schools.  Even though it is a public school, kids have to apply.  About 25% of the kids who apply get in.

We asked how Nick was doing.  We assumed he would be fine, as Nick's research projects in middle school were on historical airplanes.  The father gave us a run down of the school.

The dad talked about getting his son halfway across town everyday, but he didn't mind.  There are carpools and kids can take the bus.  It is a small school with about 100 kids per grade, and not much of the usual high school extras, like sports and music.  The kids can partake in extra-curricular activities at their neighborhood school.  All of the hassle was offset by his son's love of the program: "They get to take physics as freshman," he said.

The Boy listened, not saying much.

A few days later, we were talking to some other parents.  The topic of high school came up.  Because of the program he is in, the Boy has a few choices of where to go.  Jack and I have been heavily lobbying in to go to Roosevelt, the neighborhood school that Clare Adele attends.  It is a lovely school and Claire Adele has made plenty of friends.  The other schools are in corners of town, and he would have to take a city bus instead of walking to the school blocks from our home.

"Where are you going to high school?" the grown-up asked the Boy.

"Roosevelt," he said.  I was glad he was listing that as his first choice.

"I'm also considering Aviation," the Boy said.

Oh dear.  I hate driving.  I don't want to spent four years driving past downtown and back twice a day.  No!  And they teach the kids to fly and build airplanes. What?  A few years ago, kids died in plane crashes.  Claire Adele told me about the high death rate.  I thought she was exaggerating until I looked it up, and it was tragically true.

A few days later, Jack googled Aviation High School.  It turns out their First Robotics Team came in 24th.  Out of 3,000 team from around the world.  One of the reasons selling points of Roosevelt is that it has a First Robotics team, and the other two schools don't.  I thought about keeping it a secret from the Boy, not telling him that they have a great robotics program.  But I told him the truth.  His eyes widened, as if they weren't wide enough before.

Do I let the Boy chase the dream, or keep him grounded?