High school kids who have a dream of becoming a pilot, will now have another opportunity to learn some of those skills.
The Academy of Arts, Careers, and Technology or AACT, will be introducing its new aviation academy this fall.
"This has been years in the making but boots are on the ground starting now," said Jason Mattick, Principal, AACT High School.
This is the first time a program like this is coming to Washoe County School District.
"Given the fact that we don't have any high school offerings in this space there's definitely a demand for more opportunities for students to get into these career paths early on before they graduate high school," said Josh Hartzog, Director of Career and Technical Education, WCSD.
With classes still being in session, they will start building the spaces this summer.
They are going to repurpose three existing classrooms - one will be a traditional classroom for students to learn and the others will feature an indoor drone lab and a flight simulator.
However, the academy will teach them more than just how to operate an airplane.
"It's going to provide students with a wide exposure to a variety of things related to aviation industry," Hartzog said. "Not just piloting, but how an airport operates. Airport administration, air traffic control, a little bit of aviation maintenance - students are going to get a broad exposure to a wide variety of different technical skills."
This academy will not be taking kids up in planes, but will rather be teaching them all the ground work to better set them up once they graduate.
Mattick says students are excited.
"Just earlier today I got off the phone with a mom who was literally in tears about this opportunity," he said. "She said that her daughter as a freshman was bullied then as a sophomore they chose home school and in isolation, that girl decided to seek aviation training on her own."
This academy wouldn't have been possible without a generous donation from the George W. Gillemot Foundation.
The foundation provided a little bit more than $1 million for the program.
George Gillemot, who created the foundation before he passed away in 2022, was passionate about bringing aviation opportunities to the area.
"Mr. Gillemot passed away but he created a foundation that had ample resources," said Thomas J. Hall, Trustee for the Gillemot Foundation. "So, we started finding those places that we could spend money for the advancement of aviation and aerospace in northern Nevada."
Hall, who is a pilot himself says there's nothing like being high in the sky operating an aircraft.
"There is something about the connection between the physical of flying a plane, the mental of planning the flight and getting to see the world in a different way. It just seems like a magic carpet to me," Hall said.Â
Incoming 8th graders have already filled those particular spots, but there are still spaces available for kids already in high school
You don't have to be enrolled at AACT to join.
If you want to sign your child up, we have that application below -Â
