Madeline Denton, 11, is considering a few different career paths: pilot, doctor or first female president. In the next few weeks, as part of Southwest Airlines’ Adopt-A-Pilot program, the Oak Grove Elementary School fifth-grader will get to focus on future career options and the education needed to succeed.

Denton and her classmates in teacher Kimberly Degnan’s class will work with and “adopt” a special Southwest pilot for more than six weeks: Madeline’s uncle, Capt. Fred Denton.

Denton, who has 12,950 hours of flight time in the Air Force and at Southwest, was interested in going into the classroom even before Southwest started Adopt-A-Pilot 12 years ago. “The program gets kids thinking about careers in general, not just aviation,” Denton said.

Though the coursework provided by Southwest to 30,000 fifth-graders nationwide is planned for a six-week program, Denton said he may spend a little longer. He plans to come to Degnan’s classroom once a week and send e-mails and “Skype” teleconference in between.

Students will combine writing assignments with map plotting, weight and height computations, charting and graphing. On a large vinyl map in their classroom, they will plot Denton’s destinations. They will discuss ways to “go green” and participate in a tie design project. A class project will result in a portfolio entered in a national contest.

At the first meeting Feb. 27, each student received a Southwest Adopt-A-Pilot workbook and began learning about Bernoulli’s Principle, which explains what gives airplanes’ wings lift.

By the end, students plan to tour the Raleigh-Durham International Airport and take a peek inside the cockpit of Denton’s plane.

Denton, who has presented Adopt-A-Pilot in Maryland, Arizona, California, Florida and Connecticut over the last 12 years, began the meeting by telling his own personal flying history and let students ask questions.

Students wondered everything from, “Were you scared on a small plane?” to “If we come up with a new, lower-emission engine for our class project, do you think we’ll win the contest?”

Brooke ReBarker asked, “When you flew in an airplane when you were a kid, did you like it?”

“Yes, I did. Did you?” asked Denton, who asked the students to call him “Captain D.” “Every airplane I fly feels awesome,” he said.

Degnan was excited about the opportunity Denton’s visits will offer her students.

“To see the real-life connection is huge, invaluable,” she said. “We hope to get other pilots to come in the future so we can make it a grade-level opportunity.”