December 3, 2025 • 11 mins
A drone expo held since 2021 at a St. Petersburg middle school is getting bigger every year. The 2025 Sunshine State Drone Expo includes exhibits by business and first responders, and courses for people looking to get certified on drones. We speak with the organizer, Capt. Willis Reese, who's also a teacher at Azalea Middle School and runs the on-campus chapter of the Civil Air Patrol.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird here Beyond the News. Every year, drones seem
to be more and more a part of our lives,
whether that's in the military, law enforcement, industry, media sports.
They are used everywhere and in just about every field.
Azalea Middle School in Saint Petersburg is host to the
fifth annual Sunshine State Drone Expo. It's happening Saturday, December sixth,
(00:22):
from nine am to five pm. It includes an aerial
drone competition and some new things going on there this year.
We're going to talk about this in a moment. The
event's overseer is Willis Reese, is a teacher at Azalea
Middle School, leads drones, stem engineering and aviation instruction there,
and he is also the captain of the school's chapter
of the Civil Air Patrol and of course, organizer of
(00:44):
the Drone Expo. Captain Reese, welcome to Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Well, thank you, Gordon, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Now. This is the fifth time you've done this, so
it's become, i guess a little bit of an institution here,
and I'm sure that the growth of the event has
matched the growth of interest in and use of drones.
Tell me about that tell me how it's gotten started
and how it's grown over the years.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, it's very exciting. We came in the first year
I was here, and we were looking for ways to
you know, improve the school in general and to you know,
bring attention to the school. And in doing so, we
were talking with the FAA, who was at that time
just really getting started with some of their safety initiatives,
(01:27):
and so we kind of joined hands with the FAA.
We came became part of their Drone Safety Week. Eventually,
the Drone Safety Week kind of got pushed to a
summer date and it was kind of something we could
no longer do with them, but we decided to keep
with that safety theme and the education theme behind the drones,
(01:49):
and we got this thing going and each year it
built up and it's at a nice level now where
we've got you know, people that come back every year,
vendors and and things like that, and people that want
to come in and educate and do drone safety and
you know, the science of flight and different things like that.
(02:09):
So there's a good core of people that come back
every year and enjoy this time with us and really
helps not only our students but also the public at large,
because it's an opportunity for people to come in and
see all the good things that drones are doing in
their community. And we try to invite people like police
(02:31):
departments and fire departments and you know, different major companies
that are big players in the drone industry to kind
of come out and show people all the different things
that drones are doing in our society and talk to.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Us about some of the things that people will see
and will be able to put their hands on perhaps
if they go out to the drone show at as
Alien Middle School this weekend. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Well, you know, like I said, we usually have some
law enforcement this year, I believe Pasco County Sheriff's Office
is going to be joining with us. UH Saint Pete
Swatt is usually there with us, and they bring out
their their land drones as well as their aerial drones
and kind of show off their all of their different
technologies that they have that are you know, not actually
(03:19):
manned operated, you know, with somebody on board the the
device or the you know aerial program, so they're actually
on the ground or away from that device. And so
they bring out Spot the dog and he's all fully
electronic and has all kinds of cameras and they use
him for all kinds of different cool things. This year,
(03:42):
we're going to have the gentleman that always comes up
from Florida Drone Supply, and you know, they allow people
to come over and fly their drones so you can
get your hands on a fully commercial drone. So some
of the really nice ones that you know you normally
and get an opportunity to fly. Heck, we have a
lot of drones here at the school. Some of them are,
(04:05):
you know, pretty expensive, but when he comes, I get
to go out there and fly some of these drones
that I don't even get to fly here. So all
of the people that come out can enjoy that. We
will have somebody teaching people to get through their trust certification,
which is requirement for anybody that's flying a drone. So
(04:28):
if someone comes up and says, hey, I'm interested in
taking this course, We've got a couple of times a
day that we're going to run this class to help
people get through that because a lot of people just
don't know where to find that trust test or how
to get through it. So you know, when we talk
to people that seems to be one of the biggest
(04:49):
reasons that people don't ever go and actually get that
trust test is because they're unsure about the logistics of
getting there and getting it done. So we have that
going on. The We have the Drone League, the Racing
Street League Drone Racing that's going to be going on.
They'll be hosted by the Cigar City Multi Roders, and
we have the the rc Aerial Drone Competition will be
(05:13):
back again this year. They were here last year with
nineteen teams competing and that whole thing is all about
teamwork and piloting and autonomous flight and communications as usually
schools and different nonprofit organizations that get involved putting teams
into that program. So there's all kinds of things to
(05:35):
see and do. Plus we have food trucks and you know,
there'll be all kinds of different things to taste and eat,
and you know, it's just it's a wonderful time to
get together with the drone industry and for people in
general public to come in and see exactly what all
that means and who is it that's flying these drones
out over your house?
Speaker 1 (05:55):
You know, Now, did you mentioned the Regional Street League
Drone Racing. It's going to be taking place, and that's,
as I understand it, a first for the event this year.
Talk to us about Street League Drone events and what's
involved and who takes part in them.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Well, you know, I have never seen a Street League
drone racing actually happen, so this is going to be
a first for me as well. But I do know
that it's it's in line with what the Cigar City
Multi Roders Club has been doing in the past. They've
just been coming out and just kind of showing off
(06:31):
racing and you know, doing like little races, but they
didn't really go towards a much bigger matrix of you know,
of a program. In this case, there's actually this regional
it's actually a nationwide program where you know, these people
get together and they fly in these different regional you
(06:53):
know races, and then it goes towards them eventually reaching
the national level. So this will be one of those
key times for people to come out race in this
regional to go towards the national If they you know,
they win here, they move up one peg. You see.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Now, you and the students organize this expo every year,
and you're leading that obviously, and this is obviously part
of an educational program, and it's it fits into part
of what they're learning there. Tell tell us how this
fits into their education into STEM, which is obviously a
part of your uh A part of the curriculum, and
(07:35):
and and about aviation, the areas that you that you
cover that you teach. Tell us how this fits into
what these students that Azalea Middle are learning.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Well, it really fits in with a lot of my
curriculum that I teach in seventh grade here to middle school.
So when kids come in, you know, in sixth grade,
they get a lot of electronics and science of you know,
mechanics and how that things work like roller coasters and
that kind of stuff. When they come up to me
in seventh grade, it's all about aerospace. I teach aviation
(08:07):
where kids can actually come here and learn how to
fly a plane, and we do that for seventh and
eighth graders. Typically, we have a drone class where kids
can come in and get certifications for drone safety and
all kinds of stuff. And it's really it's adult world
kind of stuff, including our aviation program which is actually
(08:29):
giving these seventh graders that come in high school credits.
So and then the engineering that I do in seventh
grade is all aerospace engineering to teach kids the science
of flight and then how to build and test this
stuff to see how well it works. So the way
the Drone Expo works for the students here is that,
(08:51):
you know, number one, it supports all of that science
of flight and everything. They get to come out here
and talk with real perfections in the industry and ask
questions and see how things work and actually get their
hands on a real drone and fly it. But civil
Air Patrol, which is another class that I do as
(09:13):
a part of that Civil Air Patrol program, aerospace education
is key, and so we always participate in what's called
the aex or the Aerospace Excellence Program with Civil Air Patrol.
And one of the things that our kids are required
to do is to go on a field trip or
to take part in a major event or a field
(09:36):
trip kind of event where they're going to spend multiple hours,
at least two hours immersing themselves in some kind of
aerospace you know, technology. And so this brings this program
not only here for the public in general and everyone
else in our community, but it also serves an immediate
purpose in getting our kids exposed to all this technology.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
All right. The fifth annual Sunshine State Drone Expo taking
place Saturday, December fifth, nine am to five pm. Admission
is free. Tell us everything we need to know. If
we want to go out there and attend.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Just come on out. Park in the front parking lot,
you know, come around to the football field. You'll be
able to see the lights for the football field from
out in the parking lot, so you keep heading in
that direction. The gate on the side of the building
will be open for people to come into the football
field area. It's at seventy eight fifty five twenty second
(10:30):
Avenue North in Saint Petersburg and at seventy eight fifty
five twenty second Avenue North, Saint Petersburg. And we're there
from nine to five and all you got to do
is come and bring yourself. It does not cost a
dime to get in.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Excellent. We hope a lot of people attend and find
out some things, and you know, take advantage of the
opportunities and enjoy all right. Captain Willis Reese, he's head
of the Civil Air Patrol Chapter at a Ziale Middle School.
He's a teacher there. His curriculum includes things like stam
Engineering and Aviation, and he is the leader of the
(11:08):
fifth annual Sunshine State Drone Expo which is going on
at Islien middle December sixth. Captain Reese, thank you very
much for joining us on Beyond the News, and thank
you Gordon
Gordon Bird here Beyond the News. Every year, drones seem
to be more and more a part of our lives,
whether that's in the military, law enforcement, industry, media sports.
They are used everywhere and in just about every field.
Azalea Middle School in Saint Petersburg is host to the
fifth annual Sunshine State Drone Expo. It's happening Saturday, December sixth,
(00:22):
from nine am to five pm. It includes an aerial
drone competition and some new things going on there this year.
We're going to talk about this in a moment. The
event's overseer is Willis Reese, is a teacher at Azalea
Middle School, leads drones, stem engineering and aviation instruction there,
and he is also the captain of the school's chapter
of the Civil Air Patrol and of course, organizer of
(00:44):
the Drone Expo. Captain Reese, welcome to Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Well, thank you, Gordon, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Now. This is the fifth time you've done this, so
it's become, i guess a little bit of an institution here,
and I'm sure that the growth of the event has
matched the growth of interest in and use of drones.
Tell me about that tell me how it's gotten started
and how it's grown over the years.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, it's very exciting. We came in the first year
I was here, and we were looking for ways to
you know, improve the school in general and to you know,
bring attention to the school. And in doing so, we
were talking with the FAA, who was at that time
just really getting started with some of their safety initiatives,
(01:27):
and so we kind of joined hands with the FAA.
We came became part of their Drone Safety Week. Eventually,
the Drone Safety Week kind of got pushed to a
summer date and it was kind of something we could
no longer do with them, but we decided to keep
with that safety theme and the education theme behind the drones,
(01:49):
and we got this thing going and each year it
built up and it's at a nice level now where
we've got you know, people that come back every year,
vendors and and things like that, and people that want
to come in and educate and do drone safety and
you know, the science of flight and different things like that.
(02:09):
So there's a good core of people that come back
every year and enjoy this time with us and really
helps not only our students but also the public at large,
because it's an opportunity for people to come in and
see all the good things that drones are doing in
their community. And we try to invite people like police
(02:31):
departments and fire departments and you know, different major companies
that are big players in the drone industry to kind
of come out and show people all the different things
that drones are doing in our society and talk to.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Us about some of the things that people will see
and will be able to put their hands on perhaps
if they go out to the drone show at as
Alien Middle School this weekend. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Well, you know, like I said, we usually have some
law enforcement this year, I believe Pasco County Sheriff's Office
is going to be joining with us. UH Saint Pete
Swatt is usually there with us, and they bring out
their their land drones as well as their aerial drones
and kind of show off their all of their different
technologies that they have that are you know, not actually
(03:19):
manned operated, you know, with somebody on board the the
device or the you know aerial program, so they're actually
on the ground or away from that device. And so
they bring out Spot the dog and he's all fully
electronic and has all kinds of cameras and they use
him for all kinds of different cool things. This year,
(03:42):
we're going to have the gentleman that always comes up
from Florida Drone Supply, and you know, they allow people
to come over and fly their drones so you can
get your hands on a fully commercial drone. So some
of the really nice ones that you know you normally
and get an opportunity to fly. Heck, we have a
lot of drones here at the school. Some of them are,
(04:05):
you know, pretty expensive, but when he comes, I get
to go out there and fly some of these drones
that I don't even get to fly here. So all
of the people that come out can enjoy that. We
will have somebody teaching people to get through their trust certification,
which is requirement for anybody that's flying a drone. So
(04:28):
if someone comes up and says, hey, I'm interested in
taking this course, We've got a couple of times a
day that we're going to run this class to help
people get through that because a lot of people just
don't know where to find that trust test or how
to get through it. So you know, when we talk
to people that seems to be one of the biggest
(04:49):
reasons that people don't ever go and actually get that
trust test is because they're unsure about the logistics of
getting there and getting it done. So we have that
going on. The We have the Drone League, the Racing
Street League Drone Racing that's going to be going on.
They'll be hosted by the Cigar City Multi Roders, and
we have the the rc Aerial Drone Competition will be
(05:13):
back again this year. They were here last year with
nineteen teams competing and that whole thing is all about
teamwork and piloting and autonomous flight and communications as usually
schools and different nonprofit organizations that get involved putting teams
into that program. So there's all kinds of things to
(05:35):
see and do. Plus we have food trucks and you know,
there'll be all kinds of different things to taste and eat,
and you know, it's just it's a wonderful time to
get together with the drone industry and for people in
general public to come in and see exactly what all
that means and who is it that's flying these drones
out over your house?
Speaker 1 (05:55):
You know, Now, did you mentioned the Regional Street League
Drone Racing. It's going to be taking place, and that's,
as I understand it, a first for the event this year.
Talk to us about Street League Drone events and what's
involved and who takes part in them.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Well, you know, I have never seen a Street League
drone racing actually happen, so this is going to be
a first for me as well. But I do know
that it's it's in line with what the Cigar City
Multi Roders Club has been doing in the past. They've
just been coming out and just kind of showing off
(06:31):
racing and you know, doing like little races, but they
didn't really go towards a much bigger matrix of you know,
of a program. In this case, there's actually this regional
it's actually a nationwide program where you know, these people
get together and they fly in these different regional you
(06:53):
know races, and then it goes towards them eventually reaching
the national level. So this will be one of those
key times for people to come out race in this
regional to go towards the national If they you know,
they win here, they move up one peg. You see.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Now, you and the students organize this expo every year,
and you're leading that obviously, and this is obviously part
of an educational program, and it's it fits into part
of what they're learning there. Tell tell us how this
fits into their education into STEM, which is obviously a
part of your uh A part of the curriculum, and
(07:35):
and and about aviation, the areas that you that you
cover that you teach. Tell us how this fits into
what these students that Azalea Middle are learning.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Well, it really fits in with a lot of my
curriculum that I teach in seventh grade here to middle school.
So when kids come in, you know, in sixth grade,
they get a lot of electronics and science of you know,
mechanics and how that things work like roller coasters and
that kind of stuff. When they come up to me
in seventh grade, it's all about aerospace. I teach aviation
(08:07):
where kids can actually come here and learn how to
fly a plane, and we do that for seventh and
eighth graders. Typically, we have a drone class where kids
can come in and get certifications for drone safety and
all kinds of stuff. And it's really it's adult world
kind of stuff, including our aviation program which is actually
(08:29):
giving these seventh graders that come in high school credits.
So and then the engineering that I do in seventh
grade is all aerospace engineering to teach kids the science
of flight and then how to build and test this
stuff to see how well it works. So the way
the Drone Expo works for the students here is that,
(08:51):
you know, number one, it supports all of that science
of flight and everything. They get to come out here
and talk with real perfections in the industry and ask
questions and see how things work and actually get their
hands on a real drone and fly it. But civil
Air Patrol, which is another class that I do as
(09:13):
a part of that Civil Air Patrol program, aerospace education
is key, and so we always participate in what's called
the aex or the Aerospace Excellence Program with Civil Air Patrol.
And one of the things that our kids are required
to do is to go on a field trip or
to take part in a major event or a field
(09:36):
trip kind of event where they're going to spend multiple hours,
at least two hours immersing themselves in some kind of
aerospace you know, technology. And so this brings this program
not only here for the public in general and everyone
else in our community, but it also serves an immediate
purpose in getting our kids exposed to all this technology.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
All right. The fifth annual Sunshine State Drone Expo taking
place Saturday, December fifth, nine am to five pm. Admission
is free. Tell us everything we need to know. If
we want to go out there and attend.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Just come on out. Park in the front parking lot,
you know, come around to the football field. You'll be
able to see the lights for the football field from
out in the parking lot, so you keep heading in
that direction. The gate on the side of the building
will be open for people to come into the football
field area. It's at seventy eight fifty five twenty second
(10:30):
Avenue North in Saint Petersburg and at seventy eight fifty
five twenty second Avenue North, Saint Petersburg. And we're there
from nine to five and all you got to do
is come and bring yourself. It does not cost a
dime to get in.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Excellent. We hope a lot of people attend and find
out some things, and you know, take advantage of the
opportunities and enjoy all right. Captain Willis Reese, he's head
of the Civil Air Patrol Chapter at a Ziale Middle School.
He's a teacher there. His curriculum includes things like stam
Engineering and Aviation, and he is the leader of the
(11:08):
fifth annual Sunshine State Drone Expo which is going on
at Islien middle December sixth. Captain Reese, thank you very
much for joining us on Beyond the News, and thank
you Gordon
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