Learning has really taken flight this school year at Antonia Elementary School, thanks to Southwest Airlines pilot Tom Mistretta, who visits two fourth-grade classes there each week, teaching students about geography, math, science and other important lessons.
Mistretta, 44, of Imperial reached out to the school this fall, informing staff members about Southwest Airline’s Adopt-a-Pilot program and volunteering to visit students each week and teach them about his job and other topics.
“We were beyond interested,” said Antonia Elementary teacher Sherrie Bonastia, who teaches one of the two classes Mistretta visits for an hour every week.
Mistretta also pays a weekly visit to fourth-grade teacher Jessica Forst’s classroom.
“Each week he’s here he’s bringing airplanes into our class and teaching math and science,” Bonastia said.
Recently, she said, Mistretta taught students about scientist Daniel Bernoulli’s principle, which dates back to 1738 and is used to calculate lift on airplane wings.
He also leads the students in experiments, she said.
“He used a hair dryer and ping pong balls to teach about low and high pressure and how lift works,” Bonastia said.
Students in Bonastia’s class say the experiments are a lot of fun.
“I like that you get to learn how planes fly,” said Madison Beck, 10. “I like learning the airport codes, and I think it’s pretty cool where he gets to travel, and how he gets to go in different time zones. I really do enjoy it (Mistretta’s lessons), and he’s really nice.”
Fellow student Sam Sparks, 10, said he, too, enjoys the sessions.
“I like the pilot and the stuff he does with us,” Sparks said. “He (Mistretta) does experiments and talks about how the plane works and stuff. We learn about places, like Chicago, Illinois, and Hawaii and Florida. I love it.”
Lessons
Mistretta said most of his lessons aren’t elaborate, but they seem to work.
“We get into the science of flight, like the aerodynamic of how a wing works, how a jet engine works and the forces on an airplane. Sometimes it’s as simple as talking about how when you put your hand out the window of a car as you’re driving and when the wind catches the bottom of it, and your hand goes up, that’s because of lift. You can see in their eyes that they’re really learning. It’s a lot of fun.”
Bonastia said Mistretta’s lessons have been successful.
“You know when students are engaged, and they are beyond engaged when he’s here,” she said.
Forst, too, said her fourth-graders learn a lot when Mistretta visits.
“They love it, and they’re very interested in where he’s going,” she said.
Each week, Mistretta goes over his flight schedule with the students, and they calculate the mileage between cities and the total mileage covered, Bonastia said.
Forst said those geography lessons reinforce concepts the students already are studying.
“In fourth grade, for Missouri history, we talk about all the trails the pioneers took, and they get to see those things,” she said. “He puts it (the geography lessons) in a real-life situation, and he shows us on a map where he’s going.”
Mistretta said he also tries to teach the students a little about the places he flies
“We talk about the state capital, and I give them tidbits about the places, like what the states are famous for,” he said. “It teaches them about what else is out there in this country.”
Mistretta takes a ball with an image of the students’ killer bee mascot on his travels and takes pictures of the ball in the cities he visits. Then, he shares the photos with the students.
“One of the last ones came from San Juan, Puerto Rico,” Bonastia said.
Working toward goals
She said Mistretta doesn’t just teach students about geography, math and science, though. “He teaches about character education and perseverance,” Bonastia said.
Mistretta said he emphasizes the importance of working hard to achieve your goals.
“It (his teaching) is not only about aviation, but it’s also about putting their dreams and goals on a path,” he said. “One of the first things I do is pick a date 20 years in the future, so if it’s March 27, I say, ‘OK, it’s March 27, 2035, and you’re all 29 years old. What are you doing?’ Then, we talk about what they’re doing for a living then and how they got there.
“There’s everything from veterinarians to professional baseball players to singers. And, then we talk about how to get there. We talk about how it doesn’t matter what profession you want to do, that if you can think it and dream it, you can do it.”
Becoming a pilot
Mistretta, who grew up in New Jersey, said he knew from a “very young age” that he wanted to be a pilot.
“There were a lot of naysayers out there,” he said. “But I got a degree in aeronautical science, and I got my licenses to fly when I was in college. By my junior year in college, I was teaching others to fly, and right after college, I was flying for a charter company.”
Mistretta said he has been a pilot for 21 years and began flying for Southwest Airlines a year ago. Before that, he flew 747 cargo planes. He also used to fly for Trans State Airlines.
As a Southwest Airlines pilot, Mistretta said he usually works an average of 14 days a month.
He said he has a long commute to work each week.
“My base is the Chicago Midway Airport, so I make my way up to Chicago by catching a ride on Southwest up there,” he said. “I usually have a three- or four-day trip and then after the trip, I’m usually off for three or four days.”
Mistretta said he likes his job.
“It beats working for a living,” he said. “I get to do something I love, and I get to travel and meet people. “I’ve been to 100 different countries and six continents. That’s the best part, meeting the people. Ninety-nine percent of them are exactly like us. They just want what’s best for their kids and to live peacefully.”
Mistretta said Southwest Airlines’ Adopt-a-Pilot program was established in 1997. “We’re in 1,500 classrooms,” he added.
Mistretta said he believes Antonia Elementary, one of 11 elementary schools in the Fox C-6 School District, is the only school in Jefferson County participating in the program.
He said he loves visiting the two classrooms there. He started at Antonia after the start of the current school year.
“I love talking, and I love teaching,” he said. “I love seeing the kids interact and watching them think, ‘I can do this.’
“And, I have nothing but rave reviews for the school. The faculty there are great, and the principal, Mr. (Mark) Rudanovich, he is such a great guy.”
Mistretta moved to Jefferson County in 1998, and has lived in either Arnold or Imperial since then.
He said the life here is a wonderful change from what he was used to in the New York area.
“I love it here,” Mistretta said. “I can’t stand the (New York) traffic and the day-in, day-out of 9 million people trying to cross the same bridge at the same time. You can’t pull out of your driveway there without paying a toll. It’s so expensive to live there, it’s disgusting.”
Mistretta and his wife, Sherry, have three children between them – Brad Sterling, a student at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Amanda Sterling, a student at Missouri State University in Springfield, and Anthony Mistretta, an Antonia Middle School student. All three attended Antonia Elementary School.