Education grant opens aviation pathways

The multimillion-dollar grant will span five years, funding the costs of math curriculum development in the district and bringing the AOPA Foundation High School Aviation STEM Curriculum to students at two area high schools. Students will have a chance to earn industry certifications and pass milestones within courses that follow science, technology, engineering, and math career and technical education pathways focusing on pilot and unmanned aircraft systems.

The DoDEA grant program supports K-12 education in the United States by providing funding that aims to empower educators and uplift students living in communities connected to or comprised of U.S. military facilities, such as Air Force bases. Since 2009, DoDEA has distributed 654 grants worth more than $763 million, benefiting more than 3 million students. DoDEA schools span 60 military communities and serve more than 66,000 students.

In Bellevue, home to Offutt Air Force Base, more than 25 percent of students in the district’s schools are connected to the base. Offutt is the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command, the 557th Weather Wing, and the 55th Wing of the Air Combat Command.

“Given the aviation-related missions at the Air Force base and the fact that many of our students have families directly connected to the base operations, we felt that developing an aviation program would greatly interest our students and our community,” said BPS Assistant Superintendent Robert Moore.

Moore confirmed the grant will fund the purchase of 12 flight simulators and a fleet of 20 drones to supplement curriculum instruction. Additionally, the cost of tests for students who participate in the program and the salary of the instructor—a pilot with extensive experience building, maintaining, and inspecting experimental aircraft—will be covered by grant funds for the first five years of the program.

“Since we are starting a program from scratch, utilizing the AOPA curriculum will allow us to establish the curricular foundation the program needs to succeed quickly,” said Moore. “The curriculum is rigorous, well-developed, teacher-friendly, and highly engaging for students. Given the curriculum's comprehensive nature, we can build upon that curricular foundation to create additional community career-related experiences and opportunities for students.”

The AOPA Foundation High School Aviation STEM Curriculum is currently serving more than 22,000 students in more than 460 programs at nearly 1,000 schools in the United States.

“AOPA is thrilled to be working with BPS to bring our curriculum to a community that has a passion for aviation,” said AOPA Foundation Director of High School Outreach Glenn Ponas. “I hope we can continue to reach DoDEA schools, like those in Bellevue, that have resources for students to explore STEM fields both in and out of the classroom.”

Hundreds of teachers and school administrators gathered recently in Orlando, Florida, to discuss the curriculum, sharing best practices and insights in order to best serve their communities. The AOPA curriculum is free for schools, districts, nonprofit organizations, and homeschool co-ops in the United States and the application is now open for the 2024-2025 school year.

The You Can Fly program and the Air Safety Institute are funded by charitable donations to the AOPA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. To be a part of the solution, visit www.aopafoundation.org/donate.