Ms. Ariana Lugo teaches about drones at Hillside. Lugo took students on a field trip to a technology event at North Carolina Central University last week.

Governor Roy Cooper visited with Hillside students at the event.

“He was really nice,” said Sophomore Nasir Blackman. Blackman is a  certified drone operator. “When I was younger I liked to fly drones just for fun,” Blackman stated.  He has plans to use the skills he has acquired in Lugo’s class and build a career around them after graduation.

Lugo enjoys working with students and helping them learn about drones and their importance. 

You may have seen students flying drones in the 200 hallway.

The most important thing is making sure how to fly a drone correctly, and learning how to solve real problems with drones. Governor Cooper was interested in the Hillside Drone Technology class and what they have been learning about drones and how drones could help real-world problems. 

In the class, students learn about classifications of air spacing. They also learn about the different types of drones, and how to fly drones. Some of the different types of drones are Multi-Rotor Drones, Fixed-Wing Drones, Single-Rotor Drones, and Fixed-Wing Hybrid VTOL. 

 Lugo says that drones are very important because people can have a job learning about drones and using them. The purpose is to give options for students to learn about drones and may choose to be a drone pilot or something else.