Aviation Expansion
WWII HomeFront HistorY
Four years ago as I toured the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum in Honolulu, I noticed a small section about Cornelia Fort, the first woman pilot to die in service to the country. In September 1942, Cornelia was the second female pilot accepted in the new Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (the WAFS), led by Nancy Love, an accomplished pilot herself. Tragically, Cornelia died on March 21, 1943 in a mid-air collision as she was ferrying a BT-13 military airplane from Long Beach, California to Dallas, Texas.
Planning an educational webinar to honor the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor in 2021, I decided to anchor the webinar with the story of Cornelia’s courageous life. Less than two years before Cornelia became a member of the WAFS, she was a civilian flight instructor in Honolulu working for a flying service that provided lessons as part of the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP), a federal government program that offered free flying lessons to college students. On December 7, 1941, Cornelia was in the air early that morning instructing a student who was ready to solo . She was likely the first civilian pilot to recognize Pearl Harbor was under attack.
Following the Dec. 7, 2021 webinar, I met additional members of the Fort family and decided to produce a documentary about Cornelia and the first female pilots during WWII. A secondary goal of the documentary is to motivate students to learn more about Cornelia and World War II. From early reviews, I can report students are being inspired by it, which means the world to me.
To view the trailer for Courage in the Clouds, or to rent the video Click Here
Judith Stanford Miller, M.Ed., M.A.
Educational Mission
Redwood Educational Technologies traces its origins from 1999-2003 as a student news section within a major broadcast network’s website. In 2003 it became its own entity – Student News Net. The site has been continuously produced as an independent site since that time.
In 2020 we changed the operational name to the Redwood Learn – with a
new website and new features. We continue the same two areas of focus
to:
(1) motivate students to learn through producing compelling original and interesting content aligned to proven principles of learning and curricular goals/standards, and
(2) develop content to support students’ quest to identify successful career paths.
Redwood Learn Platform
Through its Redwood Learn digital platform, Redwood Educational Technologies offers K-12 students, in all environments, an engaging learning experience with an emphasis on authenticity and relevance. Engaging and motivating students to learn is essential for their intellectual growth. Following proven principles of learning and research in student engagement, Redwood Learn fosters literacy across disciplines by deeply engaging students in its original multimedia content, which subsequently supports positive learning outcomes and student achievement.
Redwood Educational Technologies Co-founder
Judith Stanford Miller, M.Ed., M.A.
For more than 20 years, Judith has been dedicated to producing original content in support of learning and the meaningful integration of technology in the classroom. With experience both in the classroom as a teacher and as a producer of content for a major broadcast network’s website, Judith brings a unique set of skills to education.
To better understand the use of technology to support learning goals, in 2012, Judith earned a Master of Arts in Digital Media and Education from the University of Michigan. Studying research on how students learn offline,
Judith created the Redwood Learn platform based on proven principles of learning, adapting successful offline strategies to the online environment. As national test scores continue to plummet, Judith has presented white papers and best practices at national educational conferences to advocate for the meaningful use of technology. Now producing full length documentaries, Judith believes authentically engaging students in content is the springboard for their motivation to learn.
