Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Monday, December 05, 2005
Bill Kuhl gets kids excited about science
Bill Kuhl is cool.
He’s the kind of cool in a science-guy way. By day, Kuhl works in the information technology department for the city of Winona. Much of the rest of the time, Kuhl spends time teaching kids about things like model airplanes, aerodynamics and hydrogen power. When he’s not doing that, he’s keeping up a Web site about Winona flying ace Max Conrad, producing a DVD about the buildings of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., or volunteering for the Theatre du Mississippi.
He’s a kind of “Renaissance man meets Mr. Wizard.”
On his Web site, you can learn about aerodynamics or about a hydrogen-
powered model car kit he’s built.
“I can’t stand still. I am thinking about something all the time,” Kuhl said.
A couple of years ago, Kuhl read in the Winona Daily News that math and science scores for elementary school students compared well with other nations, yet by the time students reached high school, those same scores had fallen to almost dead last.
“I got to thinking about what I could do to help that,” Kuhl said. “I thought that I could get them involved with model airplanes and that would become part of helping.”
Since then the avid model flyer fan has been teaching kids from elementary on up about rubber-band flyers and model airplanes.
“You then have to apply science theories and see how they work. There’s also a little fear of crashing,” Kuhl said. “If you make a mistake, you could pile it into the ground. It’s not a computer game. You can’t just reset it. And you learn the faster it goes, the quicker things happen.”
He’s worked with children in schools, at Rock Solid Youth Center and at Winona State University’s College for Kids. Admittedly, some students haven’t even heard of model airplanes.
“They don’t know what they are, but once they get into it, it’s pretty interesting,” Kuhl said.
Kuhl’s own love of learning has taken him from one subject to another. First it was model airplanes, then alternative energy, then making DVD segments for his Web site, which led him to photographing the Mayo buildings. He’s produced a DVD that features photographs and the history of the buildings.
“It would seem more simple than photographing birds, but I learned to go at different times to avoid shadows or a glare on the roof,” Kuhl said.
He used to be competitive when he was flying model airplanes, oftentimes traveling just to compete. Then he found gliders and did well there, too. For now, he’s found a new thrill.
“Seeing how much (the students) can progress is even more of a thrill,” Kuhl said. “Like when the students flew their flyers in McGowan gym and got them stuck. They were really excited about that. I am not sure the maintenance workers were so thrilled.”
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