AOPA Offers High-School Aviation Curriculum

AOPA has launched the first section of a four-year program for high school students, a program designed to encourage young people into aviation careers. Three career and technical pathways are included: pilots, aerospace engineering and drones. The first curriculum, which is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, is being released to ninth-graders.

During the past year, the program has been introduced to more than 700 students at nearly 30 schools. The curriculum is now being tweaked based on feedback from the test runs, but it will be ready for the 2018-2019 school year.

In order to be considered for the 2018-2019 school year, schools have to apply for the program before April 19. Teachers will be required to attend a three-day professional development workshop on June 26 through 28 in Frederick, Maryland. The cost for the workshop is $200. While attendance in Frederick is highly recommended, the workshop will also be available online for free. Teachers will be supplied with lesson plans, presentations, assessments and other teaching tools.

The curriculum is part of the You Can Fly High School Initiative, and its development was funded through the AOPA Foundation. The program will be provided to qualified private and public schools free of charge. While the curriculum is currently only available for ninth-grade, programs for additional grades will follow.