Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 7-12-19

News From Around The Nation
National Teacher Of The Year Rodney Robinson Continues To Uplift The Next Generation
A Bird Strike Caused An Air Force Plane To Accidentally Drop Three Training Bombs On Florida
According to the FAA, over 14,000 bird strikes happen every year at U. S. airports. Most of the time they’re in- consequential, occasionally they can cause a lot of dam- age, but things could have been especially catastrophic on Monday when a bird strike caused an A-10C Thun- derbolt II to accidentally re- lease three bombs over Florida. Thankfully, they were just dummies designed for trainings.
According to the base’s website, the incident hap- pened in the early afternoon on July 1, about 54 miles southwest of Moody Air Force base during a routine training mission. How ex- actly the bird strike caused the Thunderbolt II to release part of its payload is un- known, but the munition was a trio of 25-pound BDU-33 training bombs which are de- signed to simulate 500- pound M1a-82 bombs which
would have resulted in a much different ending to this incident.
The BDU-33 is a 25-pound dummy bomb designed to stand in for the real thing during training exercises.
Due to the unplanned re- lease (and the lack of explo- sion upon impact) the Air Force isn’t sure of the exact location of where the training bombs landed, but officials suspect they’re “...in the gen- eral vicinity of 2 kilometers
west of Highway 129 near Suwannee Springs.” The base is also warning the public not to handle the bombs if found, because while inert, they are equipped with a small py- rotechnic charge and could still be dangerous. If located, the public is being asked to contact the 23d Wing Com- mand Post with details of the exact location, and to ensure others don’t approach the munitions until they’re re- covered.
Rodney Robinson, winner of the National Teacher of the Year Award 2019, said that the road to this point was littered with a number of obstacles. One of the most challenging things was the fact that he was pursuing his undergraduate degree from Vir- ginia State University while he worked a full-time job.
Everything Rodney Robinson was up against was made easier with the help of his professors and classmates. They all knew that this man deserved to and was working to become one of the top educators, and therefore his professors would allow him some flexi- bility for the due dates, while his classmates made sure he had everything he needed to make it in class.
Some of Rodney’s profes- sors would also make sure to buy some of the merchandise he was selling at the King’s Dominion amusement park to make sure he had earned a commission. This is why Rodney made sure to men- tion his community in his ac- ceptance speech. He said that he was thankful for the tradition in his university to always lend a helping hand for the next generation.
VSU is a university that began back in 1822 with a group of 126 students. Back then it had just 7 Black fac-
ulty members and only one building on the campus. Now, it has managed to be- come home for over 5,000 students that are taught by a splendid faculty that consists of 250 members. What’s more? Their campus now also has over 50 buildings!
During an interview, Robinson mentioned that when he first stepped onto VSU’s campus, he was a little intimidated. But, he quickly fell in love with all the abun- dance of support and enthu- siasm. He said it almost felt like home in just a couple of weeks!
VSU has always had a tra- dition to extend helping hands for those that were in their campus alongside those who were outside as well. They focused most of their efforts on building a closely knit and thriving commu- nity. Perhaps this is exactly what it takes to make the Na- tional Teacher of the Year and so many more bright minds.
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