Local High School Students Spread Their Wings in Summer Aviation Course
The summer was time to take flight for high schoolers in a Rutgers-Newark program that gave them the chance to pilot a Cessna and learn about jobs in the aviation and aerospace industries.
The STEM course was one of the newest additions to Rutgers-Newark’s Center for PreCollege Programs PreCollege Academy, which focuses on introducing students to college and careers opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Because Newark Liberty International Airport is one of the city’s largest employers, Precollege center administrators wanted students to learn about the full range of career opportunities there–from flight attendant and airplane mechanic to air traffic controllers, drone pilots, and airplane pilots.
The course was led by Bridgette Fabor, founder of Ascent to Equality, an organization dedicated to diversifying the aviation and aerospace industry by introducing underrepresented students to job possibilities and mentoring programs. They also emphasize careers in energy and engineering.
“The mission is to explore and inspire and break barriers,’’ said Fabor, who worked as an international flight attendant for 20 years and then obtained her drone pilot license.
The course included several guests speaking about their jobs in the industry and culminated in a flight simulation class before students flew two- and four-passenger aircrafts with help from licensed pilots, including one who was just 19-years-old.
“They can now see themselves in the field of aviation because they’ve seen people that come from similar backgrounds and neighborhoods who aren’t much older than them,’’ said Yolanda Jackson, the center’s Director of Innovation and Strategic Partnerships.
Students made connections between their own skills and the world of aviation.
Samar Hafeez, a ninth-grader, said his experience playing video games was helpful when it was time to fly drones. Fabor later told the class that the Federal Aviation Industry was recruiting video gamers between the ages of 18 to 30 as Air Traffic Controllers.
Hafeez also enjoyed the flight lessons. “Learning how to fly without being in an actual airport was fun,’’ he said.
Rutgers-Newark student Miranda Raymond, who worked with the high schoolers as a teachers’ assistant, said the course inspired her to consider a career in aviation.
“We visited an aircraft mechanic school and that really caught my attention,’’ said Raymond, a third-year student. “I really think something in aviation is going to be a career path for me and I’m thankful for the opportunity because otherwise I never would have known.’’
The STEM Academy, which enrolled 20 middle-schoolers and 20 high schoolers this summer, is a four-week program featuring lessons in 3D printing, AI, coding, robotics and entrepreneurship, including a course in which students create mini tech startups to solve social justice issues.
“Something we’ve been focusing on is widening the traditional pathways of precollege. STEM has this unique way of offering opportunities that help them go right into the industry. It gives them tools to find STEM-related jobs and make more money as early as possible. It increases their probability of success,’’ said Jackson.
The Center for PreCollege Programs administers college and career readiness programs designed to prepare students to be future-focused for the 21st-century. It serves 2,000 annually throughout Newark, East Orange, Orange, Irvington, and the greater Essex County area.
