AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2022 - 30

BRIEFING
YOU CAN FLY /
Duncan Aviation, a major employer in the area,
led the expansion initiative with a $3.335 million
donation in May 2022. Other contributors
include the school, community, and the Boys
and Girls Club of Lincoln.
" With the new building and new facilities,
we're going to be able to get equipment that
is going to make the lab opportunities and the
hands-on opportunities in this class to be really
in line with what is happening in the industry, "
Woodward said.
The new facility will have classrooms, a simTrue
north star
This Nebraska high school is aiming for the sky
BY JULIE SUMMERS WALKER
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA'S North
Star High School introduced
AOPA's You Can Fly aviation
STEM curriculum in 2019, and
instructor Amanda Woodward
(above) has guided the program
to new heights. Her enthusiastic
approach to teaching the
aviation principles laid out in
the You Can Fly program has
resulted in more than 200 students embracing the program, graduates pursuing
aviation careers and higher education in aviation, and a $3.5 million grant to expand
the program in a new 13,000-square-foot facility now under construction on site.
Stan Haas, Lincoln Public Schools skilled and technical sciences coordinator, calls
the program the " H3 career path. " The elective courses taught at North Star High
School will lead students to high-wage, high-demand, high-skill careers, he says.
The Lincoln Public Schools Aviation and Technical Education Focus Program
has offered three courses in aviation maintenance, flight, and aviation engineering.
More than 200 students have participated in the program since the 2019-2020
introduction. LPS officials first considered an aviation focus in 2018 and members
of the staff attended the AOPA You Can Fly High School Symposium in
2019. Lincoln North Star High School dedicated a classroom, one instructor, and
added the electives in the 2019-2020 school year, but they quickly ran out of space.
30
AOPA PILOT / December 2022
ulator lab, commons, and a hangar.
" I personally joined AOPA in my early 20s
because I was a big supporter of their advocacy
for general aviation, " said President Todd
Duncan. " The high school curriculum AOPA
developed is one example of this, and their
ability to create unique and robust lessons that
showcase technical aviation training for young
people will help to feed interest in aviation for
a long time. We are thrilled to be able to support
a public school program that utilizes this
curriculum and that will help encourage aviation
careers and understanding in Nebraska for
years to come. " julie.walker@aopa.org
Duncan Aviation
Duncan Aviation is one of the largest
privately owned business jet service
providers in the world. Owned and
operated by the Duncan family since
1956, the company offers maintenance,
repair, and overhaul (MRO) service at three
facilities (Lincoln, Nebraska; Battle Creek,
Michigan; and Provo, Utah). Donald and
Betty Duncan learned to fly in Omaha
in the 1940s and began buying surplus
government aircraft. Donald became a
partner in a Beechcraft distributorship and
later a Learjet distributor. In the 1970s, he
made the company a major player in the
jet aftermarket. After his sudden death in
1981, his son Robert took over. Today Todd
Duncan leads the company. In addition to
its contribution to Lincoln Public Schools
aviation facility, Duncan Aviation offers
internships to students each year. -JSW
DAVID TULIS
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2022

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