Career tech programs for workforce development

Oklahoma’s aviation and aerospace industry produces nearly $44 billion in economic activity, making it the state’s second largest economic driver. The Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics calculates military aviation accounts for $19.3 billion; off-airport aerospace businesses, $13.9 billion; and commercial and general aviation airports, $10.6 billion. The state has the world’s largest military maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility at Tinker Air Force Base and the world’s largest commercial maintenance operation at American Airlines’ Tech Ops – Tulsa facility. The stakeholders in this important aerospace economy are perpetually in need of talent, and the state has responded with educational initiatives reaching elementary and secondary schools to help fill the talent pipeline.

Paula Kedy, aerospace and aviation education coordinator at the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission (OAC), is the go-to resource on how the Sooner State is addressing aerospace industry workforce challenges.

Kedy credits the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) You Can Fly program and the not-for-profit organization Choose Aerospace maintenance curriculum.

The AOPA curriculum is free to schools, provided by the AOPA Foundation, with two pathways for 9th through 12th grade. One is general-aviation pilot, the other is the uncrewed aerial system (UAS) or drone. “The general aviation pilot pathway offers kids the chance to sit for the private pilot written exam, and the drone/UAS pathway allows them to sit for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 107 Drone certification,” Kedy explains.

Kedy introduced the curriculum at the school where she was an administrator in 2017, and soon, teachers at other area schools were asking, “How did you build an aviation program?” News of the program reached the OAC, which asked if she’d talk about the program at other schools. “I wanted to do that because I could share with passion what this program did for our school district,” Kedy says. The program has grown to 87 Oklahoma schools teaching the AOPA curriculum this school year – more than any other state. “I have probably 15 new schools ready to sign up, so we’ll have well over 100 high schools in Oklahoma teaching aerospace next year.”

The Choose Aerospace curriculum covers the general knowledge and skills required for FAA mechanic certification in a form available to high school and community-based programs. Featuring virtual reality (VR) simulations, video lectures, interactive assessments, and textbooks, the approximately 500-hour curriculum is vetted by industry partners including airlines, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and aircraft maintenance organizations.

“You have to start building a pathway,” Kedy says. “If you’re patient and make people at schools aware, they’re going to join, and within a few short years, we’re going to see a large number of students entering the workforce.” – Eric