Ira Jones Middle School students got the chance to see a Blackhawk UH-60 helicopter up close and personal on Thursday, September 10, 2026.
Amy LaJeunesse, a sixth-grade social studies teacher at Ira Jones, reached out to her nephew, who is in the Illinois National Guard, and asked about the helicopter visit. The family member is also the brother of Heidi Romandine, a physical education teacher at Ira Jones.
LaJeunesse’s nephew did not pilot the helicopter on Thursday, but the guard member who did is connected to District 202.
The pilot was Chief Warrant Officer 3 George Frimpong from the HHC 1-106 Assault Helicopter Battalion based in Kankakee, who graduated from Plainfield North High School in 2008.
After landing, Frimpong stood among the students answering questions about his career, the military and, of course, the helicopter.
His co-pilot, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Vasilii Jenescu, with Bravo Company 106th, also out of Kankakee, milled around the aircraft as students climbed inside.
Frimpong is a commercial airline pilot when he is not in uniform for the guard. In uniform, he has flown missions in Iraq and Mexico.
“This is a tangible memory to see a helicopter land in your soccer field,” Frimpong said.
LaJeunesse is incorporating the helicopter visit into her Patriot Day lesson plans. Today is 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
She put together lessons about the helicopter and the Army National Guard.
“I think that the students get to see a different side of maybe an option of what they could look like for a career, but then also just an appreciation for what our military does,” LaJeunesse said.
It is also not every day you get to see a military helicopter piloted by a District 202 graduate.
“It kind of gives them a connection to say this is something you can attain if you want to,” she said.