The big kids seemed to be enjoying it, too, learning more about opportunities in careers offered by the various exhibitors at Penn College’s second annual Rotorfest and imagining what it would be like to fly one of the helicopters that were parked on the main lawn of the campus.

It was a beautiful day as students in grades K-12 from around the state — and a group from the college’s child care center — were given the opportunity to see first hand the machinery and vehicles that are used in emergency situations and to meet the people who operate them.

“From the college students’ perspective, these are all employers,” said William Schlosser, who teaches emergency management and homeland security at the college and is one of the organizers of the event.

The feedback from last year’s event revealed that students who attended were able to connect with those potential employers, which resulted in some Penn College graduates getting jobs “right out of the gate, which was super cool,” Schlosser said.

Students of all ages get up close access to a number of different helicopters from the Air National Guard, Pennsylvania State Police and the Coast Guard during the second annual Rotorfest event on the Pennsylvania College of Technology campus Tuesday morning in Williamsport. The interactive career day gets students together with emergency response and aviation employers so the over 600 students that attend can get first hand exposure to possibilites in the aviation industry. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“Some of the helicopter recruits from the Army Guard ended up coming to college here. They’d never heard of us. They came in and they’re like, ‘This is a really cool institution, we should be here.’ Yes. Yes, you should. It’s just one of those things that was mutually beneficial for everyone,” he said.

So the college decided to hold the event again. This year there was an expanded lineup of emergency personnel and equipment. Expected participants included a U.S. Coast Guard Dolphin helicopter, a Pennsylvania Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk and several ground support vehicles from the Army and Air National Guard, a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency equipment and a drone unit from NCPA Unmanned Emergency Services, Tioga County, according to information from the college.

Approximately 600 students, school staff and chaperones were expected to attend throughout the day.

If students were interested in emergency management or homeland security, both growing fields, Rotorfest offered a starting point to explore.

According to Schlosser, emergency management includes anything from working for a government agency like the state’s Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), or serving as an emergency manager in the military.

Students of all ages get up close access to a number of different helicopters from the Air National Guard, Pennsylvania State Police and the Coast Guard during the second annual Rotorfest event on the Pennsylvania College of Technology campus Tuesday morning in Williamsport. The interactive career day gets students together with emergency response and aviation employers so the over 600 students that attend can get first hand exposure to possibilites in the aviation industry. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“There’s a lot of emergency managers that are in the military, to private consulting…in which case, what they do is they support some other agency,” he said.

“We haven’t had a student not get a job. In fact, we have kind of the opposite problem. Our college seniors are getting jobs before they graduate. So we put them onto an online program for like their last semester or two, while they’re working in the field,” Schlosser said.

Schlosser dished on his homeland security classes, noting some students choose to go that route.

“It’s largely about dissecting the Department of Homeland Security and what it does for the first half. And the second half is all team exercises, almost. So half the team is working towards the goal. The other half of the team is working towards the goal as well, but with a different way to get there. So how do you merge those two things,” he said.

“I use the example all the time of the crisis at the border. So the Department of Homeland Security has a very specific view on that. The Department of State also has a very specific view on that. The end goal is the same, but their ways of getting there are different. You’ve got to be able to merge those things together and work through. We do a lot of critical thinking and problem solving in that class, because there’s never a real clean, easy way to deal with any of that,” he said.

Pennyslvania State Trooper Christopher O. Clinton hands out badge stickers to students at Rotorfest on the Pennsylvania College of Technology campus Tuesday morning in Williamsport. The interactive career day gets students together with emergency response and aviation employers so the over 600 students that attend can get first hand exposure to possibilites in the aviation industry. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

The logistics of the event, with helicopters landing on the front lawn of the college, along Maynard Street, took some planning with the help of the Williamsport Regional Airport.

“Two weeks ago, we called the tower and said, ‘Hey here’s what it is.’ We have special instructions for all the helicopters and special instructions for all the ground scenes — that’s part of our planning. These are what frequencies to be on, this is how to check in, this is the exact landing locations and the exact areas…” he said. “When they come in, they call in and there’s a gentleman in a red vest. He’s our operations section chief today — a student here. He takes one of his field operations teams and circles through the entire area where they’re landing to make sure there’s no students. So, they call the tower first, then they call us and then we’ll land them,” he said.

Rotorfest also gave some of the pilots a chance to check out each other’s equipment, because some of them never get to work together, he noted.

For the little preschoolers, it was a chance to see the helicopters and big trucks, but for the high school students, like Makayla Bedford, a junior from Sullivan County High School, it was an opportunity to check out what’s available in various career choices.

Bedford aspires to be a park ranger when she graduates, but she still found the Penn College event interesting.

Rotorfest visitors watch as a Coast Guard helicopter lands during the second annual Rotorfest event on the Pennsylvania College of Technology campus Tuesday morning in Williamsport. The interactive career day gets students together with emergency response and aviation employers so the over 600 students that attend can get first hand exposure to possibilites in the aviation industry. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“My favorite thing is probably the Blackhawks. The way that they talked to us is very interactive. They give you the basics on what you need to know to become part of that,” she said.

She and another student from Sullivan County, sophomore Ruby Malkemes, had checked out all the helicopters.

“I liked watching the one that landed. It swooped around for a bit before it actually landed,” said Malkemes, who wants to be a psychiatrist.

High school students also got to interact with recruiters from various branches of the military, such as the Air National Guard, who participated in Rotorfest for the first time. By mid-morning, nine people had expressed an interest in learning more about what they offered.

Caleb Woodring, the recruiter for Lycoming County, who is based in Harrisburg, detailed the benefits of joining the Air National Guard, such as the possibility of having their college education paid for as well as opportunities for travel.

Rotorfest visitors watch as a Coast Guard helicopter lands during the second annual Rotorfest event on the Pennsylvania College of Technology campus Tuesday morning in Williamsport. The interactive career day gets students together with emergency response and aviation employers so the over 600 students that attend can get first hand exposure to possibilites in the aviation industry. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“It’s just a good day for everyone to get out and see the different jobs that are available to them as graduates or see the different things that Penn College has to offer,” said Schlosser.

Rotorfest visitors get up close to a number of different helicopters from the Air National Guard, Pennsylvania State Police and the Coast Guard during the second annual Rotorfest event on the Pennsylvania College of Technology campus Tuesday morning in Williamsport. The interactive career day gets students together with emergency response and aviation employers so the over 600 students that attend can get first hand exposure to possibilites in the aviation industry. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette