Tuesday marked day two of the Grover Beach Police Department’s first free drone pilot academy for kids.
For three hours a day, 27 local 9-through-12-year-olds have a shared goal.
“I wanted to learn how to fly a drone better," said Haden Bassett, Grover Beach 7th grader.
Bassett used to have a drone at home, but...
“I crashed it into a power line," he said.
Basset is not the only one who has had problems with the technology. Davin Angello, a 5th grader from Nipomo, says his drone got stuck on a roof years ago.
Mistakes happen, but these kids aren’t focused on the past. They tell me they’ve already made a lot of progress in just a day and a half at camp.
I asked Anegello what's been the most fun so far.
"Being able to go through all the obstacle courses," he responded.
Eliseo Oakley says teamwork plays a big part in their success.
"Yeah, it's really hard to see, but my partner over here helped me," Oakley said.
The Grover Beach Police Department has been using drones for years to help look for missing people, search for suspects, and other law enforcement needs. Now, the experienced officers are mentoring the drone academy students.
“We would love to see some of these kids join our force one day. Really today, it's about having fun," said Commander Bryan Millard.
He adds that this four-day event is about giving children positive interactions with law enforcement.
“On graduation day, they earn their wings and get to fly an entire competition course by themselves and have a little bit of a graduation ceremony to go along with it," Millard said.
The cost of the $5,000+ camp was funded by someone in the community who Commander Millard tells me is fond of supporting youth programs like this one.
The department hopes to bring it back next summer and inspire kids like Aaron Garcia, who is already thinking about becoming a pilot.
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