LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It's not unusual to spot the National Nuclear Security Administration's helicopter above Las Vegas skies.
They routinely fly over the valley to measure naturally-occurring background radiation levels in the air as well as make sure big events like the Super Bowl and New Year's Eve are safe.
On Friday, the agency's Nuclear Emergency Support Team, or NEST, got to add another first to their resume: visiting a Las Vegas school with their AW-139 helicopter.
Students from Justice Myron E. Leavitt Middle School were able to meet the team who landed on school property and spoke to students about their work.
"[We] went and met with the students and had the students come out and see the helicopter and ask us questions, talk to the pilots, talk to our scientists and engineers that we have on staff," said Mike Toland, NEST Aviation Operations Manager. "[We want to] just spread the word about careers in STEM and really interesting careers in STEM, like ours, which are fairly unique and not a lot of people know about."
In addition to the helicopter, the Uncrewed Aerial Systems team brought several drones and did hands-on demonstrations and lessons.
Leavitt Middle School is one of the first schools in the state to be designated as a Governor's STEM school. Aerospace teacher Alan Sabol said this was a great opportunity to expose his students to the same concepts that they're learning about in the classroom.
"These guys are like pioneers to the kids. They've never met anybody that's ever done anything like this before," Sabol said. "To actually bring that in really brings a realness to what we actually teach here at school. Being able to see STEM in real life is extremely important because these are the kids that are going to be flying this bird one day."
That includes students like eighth grader Jordyn Base.
"I think it's really cool because I want it to be my job in the future," Base said. "I want to be in aerospace with my dad and I think it's really cool to know that women are able to do the same thing as men are able to."
