Yankee Air Museum Education

Where Learning Takes Flight!!!

A brief history of the Willow Run schoolhouse

• Built in 1938 on farmland owned by the Quirk family, Henry Ford replaced a former area schoolhouse that burned in a fire.
• The school served approximately 21 area families and operated as a school house from 1938 to 1942.
• Was turned into an officers club during the war years 1942 through 1944.
• Was leased by Mr. Al Green to prevent it from being turned into a restaurant. He turned it into a residence from 1945 to 1960.
• Mr. Lee Koepke lived in the residence from 1960 to 1970. Mr. Koepke also operated an aviation school next door with Mr. Norm Ellickson. It was later sold and became Michigan Aviation Institute, now located on the east side of the airport.
• Mr. Michael Ferrantino, Sr. purchased the property from Ford Motor Company in 1972. The building became the headquarters for Wayne Disposal, and Michigan Disposal, which operate the industrial waste management facility south of Willow Run Airport.
• From 1992 until 1996 the building was used as a technical training center by EQ – The Environmental Quality Company, the successor to Michigan Disposal. The building was then closed down until its donation by Mike Miller, to the Yankee Air Museum in 2006.
• Now the home of our Education Program, the Willow Run schoolhouse will once again serve as a center for learning for the many students, teachers, children and families that come to the Museum.
• The School House is set to open this fall.

Your Vote Counts!!! Help us elect the Education Mascot!!!

COMING SOON!!!