Hickam hosts Education Day

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Chris Vadnais
  • Air Force Print News
Honolulu (AFPN) --  With Air Force Week in full swing, Airmen on the island of Oahu are focused on its theme: Heritage to Horizons. 

The service's heritage was celebrated through a Pacific Air Forces art exhibit earlier today and the Tops in Blue show earlier this week, among other events.
The 'horizons' part focused on young adults. 

About a thousand high school students from all over the island left their classrooms for Hickam's flight line this morning. Air Force Education Day brought the students face to face with math and science experts-experts who also happen to be Airmen.
 
The students selected to attend were those who plan to pursue careers in science- or technology-related fields, like 10th grader Jordan Cesneros. 

"At my high school I'm in this thing called engineering academy, so we came here to basically learn about engineering and stuff," said Jordan. 

If it involves technology, there was probably a display, and many were interactive. The teens also got up close to-and inside of-some of the Air Force's most advanced aircraft, including the C-17 Globemaster III, the F-15, F-16, and KC-135. 

But this wasn't just a fancy recruiting effort. As part of Air Force Week Honolulu, the idea was to inspire the young people-our nation's horizons-and to further their interests in science and technology, whether they choose to pursue a career in the Air Force or in the civilian sector. 

"It's because people got excited when they were young and they said, 'don't tell me what I can't do; I'm going to tell you what I can do-what is in the realm of the possible,'" said Col. J.J. Torres, commander of the 15th Airlift Wing. "That is what is good about today. We're giving these folks a chance to think about what is possible," he said. 

Officials hope seeing how the Air Force leverages technology will help keep these young minds focused on the future. And for many, it was an easy sell. Jordan, who wants to be an engineer, admitted he wasn't altogether sure about that before Education Day.
 
"Now I'm looking forward to, you know, studying hard and being an engineer," he said.