AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2018 - 44

PILOT BRIEFING
YOU CAN FLY |

You Can Fly receives grant
American Airlines awards $100,000

AOPA'S YOU CAN FLY PROGRAM received
a flight education grant from American
Airlines that will have a "substantial
impact" on the association's work to help
students discover a passion for flight and
prepare for a career in aviation.
American Airlines announced the 10
recipients of awards totaling $313,000
from its flight education grant program in
a ceremony at the C.R. Smith Museum in
Fort Worth, Texas, in January. The awards,
including a $100,000 grant to the You Can
Fly program, went to "schools and organizations working to grow and diversify the
pilot population," the airline said.
"Of the nearly 600 organizations we
invited to participate in our program,
these 10 stood out with innovative ideas
on growing and diversifying the pilot
career path and creating opportunities
for those who may not otherwise have the
chance to learn," said Capt. David Tatum,
American's director of pilot recruiting and
development.

44 | AOPA PILOT April 2018

"You Can Fly is focused on developing aviation-related STEM programs for
young people, and American Airlines'
generous grant will have a substantial
impact in helping us provide opportunities to students who might otherwise
never realize that an aviation career is
within their reach," said AOPA President
Mark Baker.
Cindy Hasselbring, senior director
of You Can Fly's High School Aviation
Initiative, said the grant from American
will be applied to AOPA's development
of the first-of-its-kind aviation science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) curriculum for high schools
across the country. The program, created
in partnership with educators, curriculum developers, and aviation experts,
offers students comprehensive four-year
aviation study options in three career
pathways through courses aligned with
rigorous math and science standards used
in many states nationwide.

Each career pathway-pilot,
unmanned aircraft systems (drones),
and aerospace engineering-includes
specialized course work spanning four
years, building on the skills and knowledge developed at each grade level, while
making math and science more relevant
and fun. Schools may elect to implement
one or more complete pathways, or select
courses of their choice.
Courses for ninth-graders are being
field tested at 29 high schools across the
country, and will be available to any high
school this fall, with more courses to follow over the next three years. Currently
there are more than 700 ninth-grade
students studying under the program.
Funding from the grant also will help
AOPA conduct summer workshops for
teachers of the high school STEM curriculum, and provide ongoing professional
development throughout the school year.
AOPA's You Can Fly program is supported entirely through donations to the
AOPA Foundation. The other recipients of
American Airlines' flight education grants
included the Aspen AEROspace Alliance;
Community College of Beaver County
(Pennsylvania); Delta State University
in Mississippi; Kansas State University;
McKinney ISD Aviation Academy; Ocala
(Florida) Aviation Services; Patriots Point
Naval & Maritime Museum of Charleston,
South Carolina; Saint Louis University;
and V.R. Eaton High School's Aviation and
Aeronautics Academy of Haslet, Texas.
WEB

https://youcanfly.aopa.org
https://youcanfly.aopa.org
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2018

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