Members of the Southwest Secondary Learning Center (SSLC) recently visited Aspen Avionics and received a tour of the facility and an introduction to available career paths in the aerospace industry.
“The SSLC currently has 280 students enrolled and 40 of them are participating in the AERO AV8R (Aeronautical Education & Research Opportunities) program,” says Lee Truitt, SSLC’s Flight School Coordinator. “The students who are participating in this program all have the eventual goal of becoming private pilots. Exposing the students to real-world, aviation related companies like Aspen Avionics allows them to see what career paths are available in the field of aerospace.”
The students who visited Aspen toured the testing and manufacturing areas of the company. They were also given the opportunity to meet and speak with employees from the intern level all the way up to executive level staff. For the students, the most popular part of the visit was the hands-on experience of flying the Aspen Evolution Flight Display system on a simulator.
“We enjoy the opportunity to not only support a local Albuquerque program, but we also appreciate the opportunity to inspire and encourage young people to pursue their passion for aviation,” says John Uczekaj, Aspen’s President and CEO. “At Aspen, the students can see that there are many roles that need to be filled in a technology company, not only being an engineer or a pilot, but also marketing, customer service, and operational leadership roles.”
Albuquerque-based Southwest Learning Centers is a group of three charter schools (Southwest Secondary, Southwest Intermediate, and Southwest Primary) whose mission is to prepare students in grades 4-12 to become self-motivated, independent, competent, life-long learners. The school strives to equip its students with the reading, writing, mathematical, technological and problem solving skills necessary for success in post-secondary education and personal career choices. Southwest Learning Centers is one of a handful of schools across the nation that offers their students the opportunity to earn a Private Pilot Certificate in addition to a high school diploma through their AERO (Aeronautical Education and Research Opportunities) AV8R program.
For more information: AspenAvionics.com
