NOVI, Mich. – Catholic Central High School students in Novi are getting to know their new $61 million STEM center.
The center has an observatory and telescope that can spot stars in daylight, a 5,300-square-foot robotics competition space, and an aviation simulator.
The RedBird 180° Flight Simulator allows students to practice flying 20 different aircraft.
Senior Charlie Dierkes is learning to fly at Catholic Central’s Ground School program.
Cross Winds Aviation helps teach students who are training in the same type of simulation Air Force pilots train on.
The best part is those hours count toward more than school credit.
“They’re all FAA certified, so they’ll be able to use some of that towards their pilot’s license, but they’ll be able to get more practice before they go in the air,” said Amy Ely, the school’s director of STEM.
Owen Young, who recently had his first solo flight, showed us how the flight simulator works.
It has 270-degree views and uses up-to-date images of landscapes and terrain.
“The simulator can simulate any airport in the world, and as I’m turning, I can see the houses and trees,” said Young.
Senior Hayden Sawka is excited about the new addition to the schools STEM center.
“I started flying last year in August, earned my pilots license in June, hoping to go on do it as a career and fly to the airlines,” said Sawka.
Sawka thinks the simulator and other training equipment will help new students just beginning their flight journey. Then there’s the robotics.
“Operating the robot is one thing, programming the robot is another, building the robot is what our machine lab is for,” said Ely.
The best part is that they intend to open the machine lab to other robotics teams that don’t have access to the equipment on their own.
They’re calling it Shop Mentor Saturdays, and CC Shamrocks will be on hand to mentor and assist with builds.
The observatory dome is specially equipped to view stars, and complementary equipment allows students to track stars, photograph them, and use them for in-class studies.
Before the end of the year, Catholic Central plans to host Star Parties so the general public can see some of the real images they captured of space in their theatre.
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WDIV reporter/anchor Pamela Osborne gives you an inside look at Catholic Central High School's new $61M state-of-the-art STEM center. pic.twitter.com/9h7E4q0bEs
— Local 4 WDIV Detroit (@Local4News) August 21, 2024