Learn to fly in high school? SPS, OTC team up to offer new aviation 'choice' program

Superintendent Grenita Lathan has boarded a plane flown by a high school pilot while leading a large district in Texas. She can't wait to take another ride — this time with a Springfield student pilot.

At the SPS University event Thursday, Lathan and the leader of Ozarks Technical Community College announced a new "choice" program for high school juniors and seniors. It's called Fly SPS.

"There are so many opportunities in the aviation field that I felt it was an untapped area for our current SPS students now," Lathan said Thursday.

There are still details to work out but Fly SPS will launch during the 2023-24 school year with 10 students — ideally, the district said, two from each high school.

They'll spend two years working toward a private pilot's license.

Five years ago, OTC started its aviation program in partnership with Premier Flight Center in space at the Springfield-Branson National Airport. The program later expanded to Lebanon.

The college is in the process of adding an airframe and powerplant maintenance facility next door to the flight center, where students will learn how to repair the body and engines of airplanes.

OTC Chancellor Hal Higdon said teaming up with SPS to make it easier for high school students to learn how to fly was "just kind of a natural fit."

"We believe this program has great potential to serve more students in the future and to expand to include other aviation careers," said Higdon, in a release.

"Students who participate in Fly SPS will be well-positioned to continue their education at OTC and earn an associate degree in aviation flight technology and a commercial pilot's license."

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Flight school will be one of 20 career programs in partnership with OTC

The college has long partnered with the district to offer high school students ways to explore career options and gain skilled training.

"We have 19 career center programs we do that SPS has the ability to use plus Middle College," Higdon said Thursday. "Now this will be our 20th career center program."

Fly SPS will be a half-day program. Students will spend the morning or afternoon at their high school and go to OTC or the flight training center for the other half.

In the first year, students will focus on completing the requirements to obtain a private pilot's license. The second year, they will receive advanced training in flight and aviation.

The students who apply will be chosen through the random lottery process used for many other "choice" programs. They must also meet all FAA screening requirements.

Ben Hackenwerth, chief strategy and innovation officer, said more details about the process will be announced in the spring.

"There are a lot of conditions associated with this, obviously, that make it a little different than an elementary (choice) program so it will look a little different," he said. "But we do anticipate an application process and then a lottery."

He said the district hopes male and female students from each high school will be interested.

He said as OTC opens its airframe and maintenance powerplant facility, likely in 2024, the district may look at ways to expand its partnership with the college.

"We want to start here with the private pilot and the instrument rating but as opportunities emerge through OTC, we want students to be able to engage in the aviation field in a number of different pathways," he said. "While we're just getting started, that is something down the road that we're really interested in."

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District will cover cost of attendance

The program will cost an estimated $9,000 a semester, per student. Lathan said the district will pay the cost.

"To support them, like we support students in our other choice programs, this would be at no cost to our students and their families," she said.

Lathan noted this program will help meet the high workforce demand for trained pilots in Missouri and beyond. "It is just going to benefit our entire community."

Hackenwerth added: "They can leave our system and be workforce ready. And the fact that a student doesn't have to pay for this is just an unbelievable advantage to them and their careers."

Aviation careers include commercial, corporate and airline pilots as well as flight engineers.

Lathan's "entry plan," made public in December, made clear that expanding the "choice" programs — which go beyond the academic and extracurricular offerings in the traditional school setting — were a priority.

“When I came to Springfield, I saw our choice programs as an opportunity for growth,” she said.

The plan included new programs in the works and others she wanted to explore. However, she did not initially list the aviation option, although she was exploring the feasibility.

"In my previous district, we did have an aviation high school and a partnership," she said.

Claudette Riley covers education for the News-Leader. Email tips and story ideas to criley@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: SPS, OTC team up to offer pilot training to high school students