The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Foundation is among 23 education organizations and schools nationwide that have received a total of $10 million in FAA grants to help develop the next generation of aviation professionals.
The AOPA Foundation’s $498,000 grant came from the FAA’s Aircraft Pilots Aviation Workforce Development Grants program, designed to “prepare students to become aircraft pilots, aerospace engineers, or unmanned aircraft systems operators, and support the related professional development of teachers.”
The grant will go towards the foundation’s You Can Fly High School Initiative, which currently reaches more than 16,300 students in 43 states with its STEM-based aviation curriculum that is offered for free to high schools nationwide.
Since the program began six years ago, it has educated more than 49,000 students, with 70% of the most recent graduates saying they are actively pursuing an aviation career, according to foundation officials. Just as important, half of the students come from minority backgrounds and one-quarter are female, supporting the need for aviation to be more inclusive and a true reflection of society, foundation officials added.
The FAA grant will be used to train additional educators across the country through in-person sessions, “ensuring teachers have access to the high-quality professional development they need to maximize their involvement with the You Can Fly High School initiative,” officials noted.
In addition, a partnership between the AOPA Foundation and the Commonwealth of Kentucky was awarded an Aircraft Pilots Workforce Development Grant to support a new initiative to help prepare Kentucky high school students to become pilots, aerospace engineers, or unmanned aircraft systems operators. The program will be fueled by the You Can Fly High School initiative.
Two high schools currently using the You Can Fly High School initiative were also awarded grants. The School District of Philadelphia was bestowed funds to fuel private pilot and unmanned aircraft training at Frankford High School. The Fulton Leadership Academy in East Point, Georgia, in partnership with the Aviation Institute of Maintenance, was awarded an FAA grant to create a dual enrollment aviation maintenance technician program for students.