Career Tech Program Flies Sky High

Natalie Campana with Steubenville High School students enrolled in the Aerospace Engineering and Aviation course plotting flight plans with maps of nearby airports.

Natalie Campana certainly has a passion for flying. It’s evident throughout her classroom.  Model planes rest on desks and bookshelves. Posters, such as one announcing “You Can Fly”, are prominently displayed. Flight maps that plot small and large airports throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania lie unfolded on tables.  Large block letters spelling “S O A R” decorate the wall.

But more telling than these physical objects is the growing Aviation and Aerospace (AEROSTEM) program she has been building at Steubenville High School over the past four years.  Offered through the district’s Career Tech program, the curriculum prepares students to test for a 107 Drone Pilot License and/or a Private Pilot License. Those who complete the coursework can also earn post secondary credits toward an Aerospace/Aviation degree at a local community college, Ohio State Unkiversity, or Ohio University.  

“There’s nothing better than sharing the secret of flight with my students,” remarks Ms. Campana, a Steubenville grad, certified private pilot, and an FAA safety rep who knew from the age of three that she wanted to fly. “And I just love it.”

Getting the Program Off the Ground

Aiming to “kick start” the district’s career tech program, educators in Steubenville connected with the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) several years ago, which offers curriculum for advanced careers.  They selected four career paths they believed would appeal to their students, aerospace engineering among them.  At the time, Ms. Campana was teaching interactive multi media at the career center, but with her background, she was hired to establish AEROSTEM at the high school. The program was to combine aerospace engineering with coursework in aviation.  Today, she uses SREB’s curriculum for the aerospace portion of the program. The aviation curriculum comes from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

“We wanted to offer something really spectacular for technical education,” explains Shana Wydra, the district’s Director of STEM and Career and Technical Education, explaining how the program got its start.  “We have a really strong college prep plus program here, but we were lacking in career tech. This program opens the door to so many different career opportunities.”  A pilot shortage, she adds, makes it an on demand career field.

What the district designed is a four-year experience. Students take one yearlong course in the field freshman through senior year, graduating with a “concentration” in aviation and aerospace engineering. The curriculum challenges students to develop leadership, team-building, and problem solving skills and become self-directed, motivated individuals.

The flight simulators replicate exactly what students will find in the cockpit of a real airplane giving them valuable training in the classroom.

The biggest hurdle initially, claims Dr. Wydra, was explaining to parents all that the program entails.  That is no longer an issue. The inaugural group of ninth graders who began the program four years ago will graduate this spring with full classes following behind them. 

Early on, grant funds from the Jennings Foundation and American Airlines allowed Ms. Campana to purchase a half dozen Redbird Flight simulators for her classroom. Through short mini lessons, students are able to practice take offs, climbs, turns, and landings from a cockpit that replicates that of a Cessna 172.  Practice on these machines builds the students’ confidence for real flight.

Ms. Campana says the simulators are a very cost effective for students to learn these maneuvers.  When they make mistakes an alert on the simulator lets them know they failed, but Ms. Campana says that’s where the learning comes in. “They get feedback as to what and where they went wrong: ‘You got too anxious. You gave up. You didn’t look straight down the runway. You let the wind take you off the runway.’ These are all things they are going to encounter in real life, and they are going to learn how to control them here.

A students practices take offs and landings using the Redbird Flight Simulators in the classroom.

“The simulators match the exact airplanes that are at the airport,” she adds. “They are hyper sensitive to prepare students for when they are in the real plane. 

“Everything they are doing is repetitive,” she continues. “There is a step down process. It’s like reading a recipe. They repeat the same actions over and over and eventually it becomes natural so that they are able to complete these actions in any situation. That’s what we are preparing them for…different scenarios…different life scenarios.”

In addition to the practice on simulators, students in the program also clock actual flight time at a nearby airport with a certified pilot. When weather conditions cooperate, they are able to take off for 15-30 minutes of real flying time, applying those hours toward their private pilot license.  A recent Grant-to-Educators from the Jennings Foundation has supported Ms. Campana’s efforts to become a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) herself, allowing more flexibility for students to gain flight hours.

“No one does anything like this – this is so unique,” Ms. Campana remarks.“How many high schools do you walk into that have actual flight simulators and a CFI on staff?

“We have a motto in aviation: ‘You are always learning,’” she continues. “Being able to take that to the high school, bring in a whole new level of learning with flight, and get students prepared for the next level is pretty amazing.”