Aerospace STEM Academy in search of a new home

When Silas Foster entered what eventually became the CORE Charter School’s Aerospace STEM Academy several years back, he could barely build a paper airplane.

As an 11th grader inching closer to graduation, Foster now envisions a future as a mechanical engineer in the aerospace industry after being exposed to the technical and challenging aspects of the field.

But that spark of inspiration which laid the groundwork for Foster envisioning his future may be in jeopardy for others, as the Aerospace Academy faces possible closure at the end of June.

“We feel like this is an important program for kids to get exposed to what career opportunities are out there,” said Chris Mahurin, executive director with the Aerospace Academy. “If they see it and are hands on, this is what gets their wheels turning and they start to develop an interest.”

Mahurin said they are currently appealing a recent Yuba City Unified School District board’s decision to deny its charter petition to the Sutter County Office of Education. The impending closure of the academy was spurred by a 2016 appellate court decision which stipulated nonclassroom-based charter school resource centers must operate within the boundaries of its authorizing school district.

In Aerospace’s case, its current location on the 900 block of G Street in Marysville, falls outside the boundaries of its current governing body, the Camptonville Union Elementary School District.

For staff, the 30-plus students enrolled and the dozens of high school level participants, closure could have a drastic impact on a program that is not only unique to the Yuba-sutter region, but also provides a level of technical training not typically available to students this young.

“I want to be a mechanical engineer and this (program) has given me more than enough information and experience I need toward that field,” Foster said. “Having that hands on work, building an actual airplane and learning all the mechanics, I’ll be a step ahead when I go to college.”

Dave Mccreary, certified aviation instructor, said Foster was just a typical seventh grader going through the motions of education, but that this program clicked off something in his head which changed the onetime class clown, into a class leader.

Kaleb Robinson and Amber Haag, both firstyear students with the program, have also experienced the “click” Mccreary spoke of, whether in the classroom, the school’s flight simulator or the various field trips the program takes.

“It has been challenging, but in a good way,” Robinson said. “They have so many cool things that other schools do not have. You get to see how many different career fields there are in aviation. It is not just airplanes, but drones, engineering and so much more.”