{"id":15397,"date":"2026-09-17T16:26:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T20:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=15397"},"modified":"2026-09-17T16:29:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T20:29:07","slug":"fifth-graders-welcome-aviators-accepted-paper-airplane-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/fifth-graders-welcome-aviators-accepted-paper-airplane-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifth graders welcome aviators, accepted paper airplane challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ocean Lakes Elementary fifth graders, including Hector Oliveira and Ariel Tungett, welcomed U.S. Navy F-18 Super Hornet pilots Lt. Cmdr. Steven Nicklaus and Lt. Cmdr. Marty Wilson, along with aerobatic pilot Aarron Deliu to their school Sept. 15. VBCPS fifth graders will see them perform during their field trip to the NAS Oceana Air Show. From left, Nicklaus, Hector, Ariel, Wilson, Deliu.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Cindy Butler Focke<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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Thoroughgood Elementary fifth graders welcomed aerobatic pilot Aarron Deliu, left,\u00a0 and Navy Lt. Sky Danskin to their school to talk about their careers as pilots. They will be performing at this year’s NAS Oceana Air Show during the fifth grade STEM field trip.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Paper airplanes soared at VBCPS this past week.<\/p>\n

Fifth graders accepted a paper airplane challenge presented by Aarron Deliu \u2014 an aerobatic pilot performing in the Naval Air Station(NAS) Oceana Air Show.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want the kids to be engaged,\u201d Deliu said. \u201cThey need to see that even through failure, success is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students collaborated to make paper airplanes. Some were designed to fly as far as possible, and others were judged on artistic design.<\/p>\n

Deliu and several Navy aviators recently visited Ocean Lakes, White Oaks, Holland, John B. Dey, Hermitage, Shelton Park and Thoroughgood elementary schools.<\/p>\n

They will entertain approximately 5,000 beach public schools\u2019 fifth graders during their Sept. 18 STEM field trip to the air show.<\/p>\n

Lessons in perseverance<\/h2>\n

Deliu, who is Australian, will soon become an American citizen.\u00a0 He shared with students how he had no confidence when he was their age.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think I could be anything special,\u201d he told them. Deliu said he needed to believe in himself.<\/p>\n

At about the age of 14, he attended a career day and met a pilot. Everything changed, he said.\u00a0 He set a goal and worked hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cStrength for me is to find out if you can get back up after failing,\u201d Deliu told them. \u201cYou will stumble but get back up!\u201d<\/p>\n

Navy pilots share their journeys<\/h2>\n
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From left, U.S. Navy F-18 Super Hornet pilots Lt. Cmdr. Steven Nicklaus and Lt. Cmdr. Marty Wilson joined acrobatic pilot Aarron Deliu at Ocean Lakes Elementary. They interacted with students and answered lots of questions about aviation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fellow air show performers U.S. Navy F-18 Super Hornet pilots Lt. Cmdr. Steven Nicklaus and Lt. Cmdr. Marty Wilson joined Deliu at Ocean Lakes Elementary.<\/p>\n

They also shared stories about their paths to becoming pilots and how they overcame obstacles.<\/p>\n

Lt. Cmdr. Marty Wilson said he became interested in airplanes after seeing planes fly during a childhood visit to Virginia Beach.<\/p>\n

He emphasized Deliu\u2019s advice, to get back up and try again if at first you don\u2019t succeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned from lots of mistakes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lt. Cmdr. Nicklaus emphasized the importance of \u201cbouncing back, picking up yourself and carrying on.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also gave students fair warning for the air show. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be loud, and it\u2019s going to be fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curious students look ahead to the air show<\/h2>\n

Students had lots of questions, especially about Deliu and how he spins and flies his aircraft upside down. They were amazed to learn that the F-18 pilots can fly up to 1,500 miles per hour.<\/p>\n

When asked what g-force(gravitational force) felt like, Deliu said that accelerating quickly in the plane makes him sometimes feel like he weighs as much as an elephant.<\/p>\n

The aviators took photos with students and congratulated them on participating in the paper airplane challenge. Some of the winners will be treated to a special pilot \u201cmeet and greet\u201d at the air show.<\/p>\n

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The paper airplane challenge was fun, according to Thoroughgood Elementary fifth graders, from left,\u00a0 Mason Fuller, Lucy Daniels, Parker Kennedy and Salvador Ortiz.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Teamwork leads to success<\/h2>\n

A team of four from Thoroughgood Elementary \u2013 who named themselves the \u201cherons,\u201d proudly showed off their paper plane, which took top honors at their school by flying approximately 15 meters.<\/p>\n

Team leader Lucy Daniels said they worked together in trial and error to achieve their goal. \u201cIt was amazing and really fun,\u201d said Parker Kennedy. \u201cWe made some mistakes and we fixed them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connecting classroom learning to real life<\/h2>\n

VBCPS Elementary Science Coordinator Nancye Flinn said the paper airplane challenge was a fun way for students to apply what they\u2019ve learned in the classroom.<\/p>\n

Shelton Park Elementary principal Sara Mendez applauded the challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe activity engaged all the students, brought in elements of the force and motion unit as well as the engineering design process,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Flinn also said that hearing from the aviators helped students realize their dreams can come true.<\/p>\n

Ocean Lakes fifth grader Hector Oliveira said he loves science and might want to be a teacher when he grows up. He said the aviators taught him that \u201cpractice makes perfect\u201d and that it\u2019s OK to fail.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents can see people who, in their eyes, are heroes and learn their journey of how they persevered,\u201d Flinn \u00a0said.<\/p>\n

More fun for fifth graders:<\/strong> Through Oct. 31(excluding 9\/20, 27 & 10\/11), VBCPS fifth graders can get FREE admission to the Military Aviation Museum<\/a>, 1341 Princess Anne Road, \u00a0with a\u00a0parent\u2019s\/guardian\u2019s\u00a0paid admission.\u00a0 Students\u2019 grade level in\u00a0ParentVUE\u00a0should be shown at the admissions desk.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Fifth graders and staff at Ocean Lakes Elementary welcomed NAS Oceana Air Show pilots to their school Sept. 15 and accepted the paper airplane challenge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Fifth graders and staff at Ocean Lakes Elementary welcomed NAS Oceana Air Show pilots to their school Sept. 15 and accepted the paper airplane challenge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Aviators performing in the NAS Oceana Air Show congratulated Thoroughgood Elementary fifth graders for taking the paper airplane challenge and posed for a photo with the finalists.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Fifth grade teachers Charlie Rogers, left, and Casie Ayer – along with retired Navy pilot Capt. Tom Sparks – celebrated the paper airplane finalists from each fifth grade class at Alanton Elementary.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Guest aviators Navy Lt. Sky Danskin,\u00a0 left, and Aarron Deliu joined Thoroughgood Elementary fifth graders in applauding their teachers for helping them succeed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Alanton Elementary fifth graders participated in the paper airplane challenge with help from retired Navy pilot Capt. Tom Sparks, grandfather of fifth grader Jack Sprague. He helped students with launch techniques, measuring distance results and more.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Cindy Butler Focke Paper airplanes soared at VBCPS this past week. Fifth graders accepted a paper airplane challenge presented by Aarron Deliu \u2014 an aerobatic pilot performing in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":15399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-connections","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15397"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15415,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15397\/revisions\/15415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}