As students begin returning to a new school year, officials with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association report that 300 schools in 44 states are scheduled to use the AOPA Foundation’s You Can Fly High School Aviation STEM Curriculum in the 2021-2022 school year.
That represents a 50% increase in the number of schools and a 22% increase in the number of states compared to a year ago, when 200 schools in 36 states provided the curriculum for 8,000 students.
The science, technology, engineering, and math curriculum features two pathways: Pilot and drone. Once students have completed the curriculum, they have learned the principles necessary to pass FAA knowledge tests.
The curriculum is funded by donations to the AOPA Foundation and is provided free to schools. Because of this, AOPA is reaching students from populations that are underrepresented in aviation, according to officials.
In the 2020-2021 school year, teachers and students from mid-high and high-poverty schools accounted for 45% and 55% of participants. In addition, 20% of the students were female, and 45% of the students were people of color.
In the summer of 2021, the curriculum earned the prestigious STEM.org Accredited Educational Program Trustmark. STEM.org is a STEM education research and credentialing organization that has given trustmarks to companies including The Walt Disney Co. and The New York Times.
In addition to receiving national accreditation, the curriculum is also backed by state education departments, helping to fuel its growth, according to AOPA officials. Oklahoma approved the curriculum statewide for its career technical education (CTE) aviation career pathways, while Kansas career and technical education developers worked with the You Can Fly team to create a statewide CTE pilot pathway.
The curriculum also can count as college credit at Florida’s Polk State College and Oregon’s Portland Community College, as well as many other colleges and universities across the country.
AOPA trains and mentors educators who enroll to teach the curriculum through professional development workshops, ongoing teacher support, and peer interactions.
One of the upcoming professional development opportunities is through the 2021 AOPA Foundation High School Aviation STEM Symposium presented by Boeing. The symposium takes place Nov. 14-16, 2021, in Orlando, Florida. Schools that might be interested in offering the curriculum should attend the symposium to network with educators who use the curriculum, learn about career opportunities from aviation industry experts, and gain insight into how the program changes students’ lives, AOPA officials note.