Aviation Pathway coming this Fall to Arroyo Grande High School
Jarrod Zinn
ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. – High school students in Arroyo Grande are set to have an exciting new educational opportunity starting this fall.
Staff and students alike are excited to launch an aviation pathway.
A collaborative effort was announced this week between Lucia Mar School District and San Luis Obispo county airports to bring an educational pathway for aviation careers to Arroyo Grande High School.
The program is set to begin this fall starting at the tenth grade level, with a three-year program designed to set students up with the knowledge needed for a career in aviation.
“It’s super important to offer options like this. You know, in high school, it’s a really formative year, formative years for our students. And so they’re exploring all of the options that they have,” says Arroyo Grande High School principal Brad Grumbles.
The demand for pilots–both in-person and unmanned positions such as drone operators–is growing.
“The career to follow is exciting. I think it’s something that people see right in their own backyard, whether you’re living close to one of the airports in the region or you live close to Vandenberg. There’s an abundance of aviation and aerospace businesses that are here on the Central Coast and really blossoming,” says Courtney Pene, spokesperson for SLO County Airport.
The evolution of technology, particularly gaming tech and the advent of drones, is helping to generate a strong subculture of interest in the aviation field among local students.
“Drones, I think, is really kicked things into gear where we have a lot of kids that have their own personalized drones and fly those drones already. So they’re coming with a foundational level of skill that, you know, I don’t think we’ve ever seen before,” says Grumbles.
Upon completion of the vocational program, students will have the knowledge and hours required to get their drone license or go to pilot school.
Principal Grumbles acknowledges a vital community partnership with Oceano Airport, who have been proponents of the program, and instrumental in obtaining a nationally recognized curriculum from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.