School Programs

To Provide An Interactive Learning Experience
For The Youth Visiting Our Museum That Will Positively
Impact Them For The Rest Of Their Lives

At the LaFayette Foundation, youth are able to see the uniforms, memorabilia and aircraft of the men and women that we learn about in history classes. Youth are able to personally experience a functioning airport and watch a number of replicas of World War I aircraft fly (weather permitting of course).

Students are also able to see and perhaps even ocassionally assist in the restoration and construction of replicas of other WW-I aircraft. We always have projects underway; Some in the early stages of construction and perhaps one or two almost completed. Students can look inside the structure of these authentic WW-I planes to see the parts and construction methods commonly used to create our airplanes.

Another popular activity is an educational "talking tour" of each plane. Knowledgeable staff explain historical details and operational characteristics of popular aircraft. Here you see students viewing the exterior of our 1942 Beech AT-7. This particular plane is actually a WW-II era plane built to train Army Air Cadets in navigation, aerial photography and bombing. With this plane students are often able to view both the interior and cockpit.

A project for museum staff this summer (2006) is to complete the construction of our 1930's era Great Lakes biplane so we can offer "Young Eagle" rides to youth.

We'll offer more information on this effort in the project area of our website as activity swings into high gear.

The "Young Eagles" reference made above is a program launched in 1992 by the Experimental Aircraft Association to give interested young people, ages 8 - 17, an opportunity to go flying in a general aviation airplane.

We also have an Aviation Education Program Curriculum for teachers to use in their classrooms. This effort provides teachers with an interactive history lesson where students are challenged to learn information on key historical figures within the Museum's collection (e.g. Rickenbacker, von Richthofen, Gerstenberg and others).

Teachers are supplied with PowerPoint presentations that focus on the history of the aviators as well as Colorado pilots involved in WW-I. During the Museum tour, students have the opportunity to see the actual, original, uniforms of these historical individuals.

At some point, we hope to have the resources to be able to take selected museum materials to schools in Colorado who are geographically unable to bring students to the museum. This effort is currently in the planning stage.