We are proud to highlight our May Educator of the Month, Mark Vonder Haar, a longtime Technology Education teacher at Orono High School in Long Lake, Minnesota, whose classroom combines engineering, architecture, media production, and drone technology into hands-on learning experiences for students.
“When I graduated from high school I went into the Army for 2 years and served as a Military Policeman thinking I was going to be a police officer upon returning for the service and graduating from college.”
While attending St. Cloud State, Mark discovered a different path. “At College I discovered the industrial tech fields and took several classes at Headley Hall as I enjoyed those classes while at St. Cloud State.”
After speaking with his advisor, he found a career direction that combined technical skills with education. That path ultimately led him to Orono High School, where he has spent more than three decades teaching.
“After graduating I was lucky enough to find a job in Rochester, Mn for one year, and then moved back to central MN when I was hired at Orono High School in Long Lake, MN where I have been teaching there for 33 Years.”
A Full Day of Technology Education
As the only Technology Teacher at Orono, Mark teaches a wide range of subjects throughout the school day.
As Orono’s Technology Teacher, Mark oversees a diverse program that spans engineering, manufacturing, architecture, graphic communications, videography, and drone technology. This broad perspective allows him to connect concepts across multiple disciplines and expose students to a wide range of career-focused learning experiences.
Within that program, the drone courses have been intentionally structured to create the best possible learning environment for students.
“We do the Drone Technology II course later in the day, which allows the weather to warm up a little more for outdoor flying,” Mark explained. “We have also moved the LocoDrone Voyager course to the mornings because we primarily fly those drones indoors.”
Building a Drone Pathway
For years, Mark wanted to create a dedicated drone pathway that could help students with STEM career exploration.
“For the past several years I have been wanting to start a Drone pathway for students to explore and possibly find a career in the Drone field area as this field has really blown up in the past several years, and I wanted to give my students a chance to experience the are as a possible career.”
Finding the right partner, however, proved difficult.
“Trying to find a proven but reliable provider was a challenge, until we found LocoDrone. LocoDrone provided us with everything we needed to get the Drone classes going.”
“We currently have the LocoDrone Voyager and the LocoDroneX products which has allowed our students to experience Computer Programming using block coding to actual Python coding.”
“The best part about using drones is that the students can see their code come to life as the drone flies the code/path that the student created, and not just seeing the code do something on the screen which is the typical coding class. Students get to see their code in action!”
Implementation and Support
The drone pathway was designed with progression in mind.
“We went with the Voyager and LocoDroneX series as a means to create an Intro Course and 2nd Level course pathway for students to follow.”
Students also have the opportunity to prepare for FAA certification.
“We also picked up the LocoFly FAA course as a means for students to actually study and take the FAA104 License exam and get their drone pilots license.”
The drone curriculum and support structure helped make implementation easy for both students and teachers.
“The curriculum is easy to follow for both teachers and students alike.”
“The tech support is great as they get back to you usually in a day with an answer or they set up a Google meet with you to walk you through any issues you are having and to solve any issues that cannot be solved via email.”
Impact on Students
“Students really enjoyed the LocoDrone courses, not just because they fly drones but because they learn how to code/program.”
For Mark, engagement increases when students can immediately connect their programming to real-world movement and feedback.
“Hands- on learning keeps my students engaged in what they’re doing. Students seeing the LocoDrone perform the program code they wrote is a great learning experience for everyone involved.”
Memorable Aha Moments
Some of the biggest learning moments happen during debugging and troubleshooting.
“Students realize that there is more to coding than just writing code…The debugging process is really where the coding hits the ground.”
Students begin to understand how even the smallest details can affect outcomes.
“A misspelled word, or misplaced punctuation or even a capital letter in place of a lower case letter can make or break the program.”
Those moments of discovery become some of the most rewarding parts of the classroom experience.
“The “I figured out what I did wrong”. Moments are great as students really problem solve when programming their drones.”
