A Fed Ex jet donated to the Liberal Mid-America Air Museum Foundation is being reconstructed into a STEM classroom. STEM includes the education of science, technology, engineering and math for students from kindergarten, middle school, high school and college. The Fed Ex donation program has donated more than 60 jets for educational purposes, often to aviation maintenance technology programs. However, Dr. Janese Thatcher, the dean of career and technical education at Seward County Community College/Area Tecnical School, and a member of the MAAM foundation board, was the precursor of a new kind of project. This is going to show students real world applications of how to use abstract concepts of STEM courses they learn in school, Thatcher said. Last year, she was part of the Minnesota Association of Women in Aviation, where she requested Fed Ex to donate a jet. This was the first time that a Fed Ex jet was requested to be a learning jet for kindergarten to 12th grade students, according to Thatcher. However, Thatcher moved to Liberal before that jet landed in Saint Paul, Minn. Now, she has duplicated the project in Liberal. In June 2014, the Boeing 727 landed at the Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport. Steven Strickland, project manager, is in charge of remodelling the interior of the jet. As part of the program, volunteer students are able to help with renovations. “Senior highschoolers are fulfilling community service inside the jet. The volunteers help taking off the container tracks of the floor as well as side panels,” Strickland said. Liberal High School seniors have to complete 20 hours of community service to graduate, so they can volunteer to work on the jet. Thatcher sees that this option helps students to complete assignments, and, at the same time, learn how an aircraft works. The owner of the jet is the MAAM Foundation, but the foundation is a non-profit organization, and the jet needs materials and money and volunteers to be reconstructed, so partnerships from the City of Liberal, Seward County Community College, and USD 480 are important. “I think it is an amazing project for students, but I would like to clarify that Seward County Community College does not own the jet; the college only has a partnership with it,” said Dr. Duane Dunn, the president of SCCC. The MAAM foundation does fundraising programs, so any company or person that wants to sponsor or collaborate with the aircraft can help. In return, people may have their names on the plane and companies who donate can have advertising painted on. The classroom will be 2/3 of the jet space. It will include desks and computers for the students. In addition, the plan is for the jet to contain flight simulators. In the future, college students are expected to come and do repairs on the jet, Thatcher said. Auto body repair students can help painting the outside of the jet; air conditioning class putting in heating and cooling system; and diesel technology program learning about the engine system, among other examples, Thatcher said.