This CU Grant Will Fly

SALT LAKE CITY – Students at Granger High School will learn to fly–literally–with the help of a $15,000 grant from the Utah CU Association’s 100% for Kids CU Education Foundation. The grant allowed the students to buy a kit and build their own four-seat airplane, the first student-built plane in the state. Students with special skills in physics, graphics, vocational technology and aerospace technology are working on the educational project, one of 28 funded by the credit union foundation this year. Students on the building crew constructed the frame, fuel tank, rudders, elevators and control surfaces. An interior crew worked on the inside of the plane while the paint crew and students in the school's collision repair class worked on sanding and painting the body of the aircraft. Students in the school's advanced graphics courses created logos and graphics to put on the outside of the aircraft, which included the names of each student who worked on the project as well as the names of 16 sponsors. The students hope for a September take-off for their creation, dubbed Excalibur. The 100% for Kids CU Foundation has awarded more than $4 million in educational grants to schools, students and teachers since its inception in 2002.