Four new classes will be offered next school year at St. Louis U High: Applied Aviation Engineering, African American History, Intro to Construction Engineering, and Intro to Woodworking.   

Applied Aviation Engineering

Science teacher Bradley Mueller will combine his interest in aviation with his passion for teaching to create a summer course geared to students with an interest in engineering.

“There are a lot of guys interested in engineering but may have never thought about aerospace engineering or an aviation science so that would be the primary reason,” said Mueller. “Number two, the aviation industry is going to grow extensively in the next couple of years not only as commercial aircraft pilots are concerned but lots of electric flying aircraft are coming out and they are almost all based on engineering.”

Mueller also hopes to share his experiences from working to get his pilot’s license with the students.

“I’m getting my pilot’s license and in getting my pilot’s license I think there is a lot of opportunities to share my experience with students at a much lower cost,” said Mueller.

The course will begin with an introduction to the history of aviation and then study biomimicry in the world today. They will then take the knowledge they have gained and transfer it into designing and flying a plane.

Right now, the course is only open to rising seniors; if there are remaining spots available, the course will open up to rising juniors and sophomores with aviation experience.

This course will be the first of its kind in St. Louis.

“There is only really one other school that has a foundational aerospace course from my research and that is Ladue, but they are more theoretical stuff,” said Mueller. “This would actually be a super hands-on course where we actually build a plane.”

Although aviation engineering is not for everyone, Mueller believes this course is beneficial for anyone interested in going into engineering.

“I think there are a lot of guys who would like to do engineering, and maybe this isn’t the path for them, but it definitely includes a lot of skills you need for an engineering career,” said Mueller.

Intro to Construction Engineering

Director of Theatre Operations Tim Moore and Innovation Lab Director Jeff Schaefer will be teaming up this summer to teach an intensive two-week Construction Engineering course that will give students an introduction into the process of building.

The course will be centered around a random project that is assigned to them by the facilities department. After a couple of days of learning about the construction process, like bidding and estimates, it will then be up to them to design and build the project.

“I’d say that 80 to 90 percent of the course is just building whatever the school gives us,” said Moore.

Moore and Schaefer want to offer a unique experience to mimic a job that might be seen in the real world.

“SLUH  produces a lot of engineers and a good amount of them go into civil engineering or structural engineering, and on that path to those jobs some end up in construction management or in construction engineering,” said Moore. “We thought this would be a super cool and fun way to get the students involved in a permanent bid and a small sampling into what that job looks like.”

While Moore and Schaefer see an advantage to having experience with construction prior to the course, they stress that experience is not necessary and the course is open to anyone willing to put in the effort.

“My approach to everything is that if you don’t have the specific experience, don’t just rule it out,” said Schaefer. “If you’re interested in the class then at least come to talk to one of us.”

Intro to Woodworking

Moore and Schaefer will team up once again during the next school year to teach a woodworking class.

The class is focused on giving students a foundation in the useful area of woodworking by making various projects ranging anywhere from toys to furniture.

“The beginning projects will be small and as the skills develop, we will use that as a guiding force for the class,” said Schaefer. “It is ever-evolving. The abilities and skillsets of students will play a huge part in deciding the course moving forward.”

“We’re still trying to build the bones of what this class is going to be like day to day,” said Moore. “We’re still getting it figured out.”

The course hopes to take advantage of Schaefer’s new shop in the Innovation Lab and Moore’s shop in the theatre.

The course comes as schools around the country are cutting most of their shop classes due to budget restraints. Moore and Schaefer hope to keep the spirit of woodworking alive through this course and pass down valuable woodworking skills to their students.

“We have a fully outfitted shop in the Innovation Lab in order to do that type of work,” said Schaefer. “The abilities that Mr. Moore and I have in our trades are already construction and woodworking and we see how much they have helped us and so we are trying to convey that to the next generation.”

African American History

History teacher Erwin Claggett will be teaching a new course on African American History next school year.

Claggett’s class comes as a response to requests from students to dive deeper into the subject than what they learned in U.S. History and to complement similar classes like the senior English elective African American Voices.

“It seems like it would be a good time, especially with our school’s evolution with equity and inclusion. It seemed like a great opportunity to enhance our history curriculum,” said Claggett.

Claggett’s class will start around the Reconstruction era and go all the way up to present day. They will study the political, economic, and social experiences of African Americans while discussing their experiences and contributions to society.

“People get misconstrued and think that African American history is totally different from U.S. history when, in actuality, it is the same, but it’s just some of the history has been forgotten, neglected or just not even talked about,” said Claggett. “ I am excited about learning more myself and also teaching it.”