FSD eighth-grade students now have an unprecedented opportunity to earn high school credit through a new elective: Introduction to Aerospace! In the next 20 years, the world will need more than “600,000 new pilots, over 700,000 new aviation technicians, and more than 900,000 new cabin crew members,” according to Boeing's Pilot and Technician Outlook.

Schools and districts nationwide need to prepare students for these and other high-paying and rewarding careers in
aviation and aerospace. So, the FSD is stepping up to the plate. Additionally, in the words of Boeing’s report, “To support the rapid recovery and growth driven by expansion of global fleets, the aviation industry will need a long-term strategy that addresses upcoming labor challenges. Investment in early career-development programs and outreach efforts that spark excitement among future aviators will be essential to a healthy aviation market for years to come.”

From the Tennessee Department of Education course description: “Introduction to Aerospace is a comprehensive foundational course for students interested in pursuing careers in aviation. This course covers the basic principles governing flight and the regulation of flight that every aviation professional must know regardless of his or her occupation – as a pilot or an engineer, a salesperson or a specialist, a mechanic or a statistician. In addition to acquiring foundational knowledge of safety procedures and industry regulations, students will also gain an essential understanding of aircraft structures, the flight environment, basic procedures, and navigation. Upon completion of this course, proficient students will be prepared for further study in advanced Aviation Flight and/or Aviation Maintenance courses.” The initial years of the Introduction to Aerospace course are funded through the state’s Innovative School Models Grant.

Students in this yearlong class learn the fundamentals of aviation via the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) High School STEM Aviation Curriculum, the industry and educational standard for aerospace instruction. Our young prospective aviators/aircraft maintenance technicians/airport managers/aerospace engineers/ (and more!) learn from a high-quality program that enables the teacher to, from the AOPA website:

• “Discover innovative teaching methods while diving deeply into the Aviation STEM curriculum.
• Engage in structured hands-on activities that bring aviation STEM concepts to life.
• Connect with like-minded educators, exchange ideas, and build new relationships with long-lasting impacts.
• Explore potential collaborations with other schools and districts to enrich curriculum and make learning more exciting for students.
• Ongoing support is available to teachers through AOPA social media groups, the High School Initiative Team, and AOPA's rich library of educational resources.
• In the AOPA STEM Aviation Curriculum, each course is a turn-key set of high-quality instructional and assessment resources. This includes:
  • 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate) format lesson plans.
  • Teacher presentations with embedded video links.
  • Student activities and projects, rubrics, and materials lists.
  • Extension activities for enrichment and strategies for differentiation.
  • Lesson formative and summative assessments.
  • Unit quizzes and exams.
  • Semester pre-and post-tests.”

Further, to ensure a highly realistic aviation learning experience, both the Poplar Grove Middle and Freedom Middle School aerospace classrooms have been outfitted with five Redbird Jay Velocity flight simulators. In August, a Redbird
consultant traveled to Franklin to provide the aerospace teacher, a STEM teacher, the instructional technology specialists, the technology supervisor, and several technicians with a two-day professional learning session. This training has enabled these educators to develop strategies for bringing aviation content and instructional strategies for flight simulation technology into the classrooms. By combining ground training and flight simulation immersion, these simulators bridge the gap between traditional classroom content and aerospace-specific STEM content. Our instructor is both a licensed teacher and a licensed private pilot! With his expertise, comprehensive knowledge, excitement for the class content and objectives, and ongoing support from principals and various members of the Teaching and Learning team and Technology department, the sky is truly the limit for our aviation students.