IRVINE, Ky. (LEX 18) — The drive from Irvine to Richmond doesn’t take very long, but a handful of Estill County High School students might choose to fly there.
“We are so excited to bring this aviation piece to our students at Estill County High Schools,” said Estill School Board Chairwoman, Donna Isfort. “It a natural for us, because EKU is close and they have an aviation program,” she continued.
Isfort was referring to the accredited pilots training program offered at Eastern Kentucky University.
“Our students are on that pathway, so in the future if they decide if this is their career, they've got a head start,” Isfort emphasized.
Recently, Estill County High School acquired a $3,000 flight simulator with different programs that will allow students to train on aircraft's of all kinds. Eventually the plan is to add several more simulators and place them all inside a hangar near the school, which would also house an old plane that the school’s student-mechanics through their Area Tech Center (ATC), can train on.
State Representative Bill Wesley (R-91) was a driving force behind this program.
“I’m on the aviation caucus in Frankfort, and this opportunity opened up,” he said, after watching a couple of students demonstrate the new simulator.
“United American Energy, a local business, sponsored us. I’m looking forward to more (sponsors) coming on board. They’ve got a great staff here teaching them, so I’m looking forward to seeing how it takes off,” Wesley added.
A traditional four-year college isn’t practical for some. For others, it’s just too much of a financial burden. The ATC, and now, this flight program at the high school, are designed to attract students to a particular trade, while giving them a massive head start on the job market, or a technical school.
“This is going to open up a lot of opportunities for our kids,” Wesley said. “As we said, potentially six-figure salaried jobs for these kids."
It’s why Principal, Josh Yost didn’t hesitate to go “wheels up” with this program. Recent industry trends were also a big factor for him.
“We have an airline pilots’ shortage now, so to get them opportunities to get them into the workforce, as pilots, was an opportunity we couldn't pass up,” Yost said.
One of the students, who is already flying the simulator successfully, has interest in becoming a commercial pilot. Another student simply wants to be able to get in the air privately.
“I don’t think I’d do well with people,” sophomore Braxton Dooley joked. “This allows me to learn a trade in high school and better me for the world later in life. It’s a wonderful experience to get to do this now. It costs me nothing,” Dooley added, before giving the cockpit to classmate, Wyatt Waddle.
“It’s a great opportunity for people to see if they want to do this or not,” Waddle said, after indicating that flying commercial flights is a career path he’d like to pursue.
Now Wyatt has a chance to get a head start inside of his school building.
“We've got dozens (of students) showing interest, and we're getting them signed up to get access to the simulator,” Yost stated.
