VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Over 8,000 students attended the 2019 Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana Air Show, breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest field trip on Friday.
Over 5,600 fifth grade students from Virginia Beach, Virginia, 1,500 fifth grade students from Chesapeake, Virginia, and students from other areas were welcomed a day before the air show officially opened to the public to attend the show’s annual Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Lab Learning Day.
During the trip, some of the exhibits included Code Ninja, Navy Heritage Command, Submarine Forces, robot races, slime making, virtual-reality flight simulation, 3D printing, aluminum shipbuilding, electrical engineering, as well as an interactive dive tank with submerged U.S. Navy divers and explosive ordnance technicians playing tic-tac-toe and writing messages to kids through the tank glass.
The previous Guinness World Record was held by students of Guido de Brès School and the Attraction Park Walibi Holland (both Netherlands), in Biddinghuizen, Netherlands in 2013.
According to Dr. Aaron Spence, Superintendent, Virginia Beach City Public Schools, "One of the best things about being a fifth grader in Virginia Beach is this amazing opportunity to get hands-on, real-world STEM experience from the men and women who live it every single day. We are so grateful to our partners at NAS Oceana for making this experience happen for our young learners again this year."
The 2019 NAS Oceana Air Show is planned, set up and performed by Naval Air Station Oceana personnel and requires the skills and knowledge of all Sailors stationed there. Thousands of hours are spent in making this the Navy's largest public outreach event.
