Cherokee school offers aviation pathway

Program wraps up its 2nd year; enrollment expected to double to 48 next year.

Aviation and its accompanying careers have found another local launching pad for aspiring pilots, mechanics, cabin crew, and tech support employees. The Cherokee College and Career Academy Aviation Pathway is wrapping up its second full year of operation with 24 students, and that enrollment is expect to almost double in the fall.

“Just this morning, I got three emails from parents saying they didn’t know there was an aviation program,” said Scott Dubee, the aerospace and unmanned pathway instructor who spent 20 years in the Air Force and working as a private pilot before joining the school district to establish the program.

Because it’s a bit unusual, Dubee isn’t surprised that parents and students aren’t aware it exists.

“It’s unique because it’s held on our campus in Canton, away from a student’s home school,” he said. “If they go to Sequoyah or Cherokee high, they’re bused here to do this pathway. It takes some foresight to make sure they’re planning their classes so they can come over here.”

Students meet every day to study topics such as the fundamentals of aerospace and career options in the fall. In the second semester, they dive into flight operations, weather charts, filing a flight plan, the basic parts of an airplane, and unmanned pathways, also known as drones.

“At the same time, I’m getting them ready for their written private pilot’s exam from the FAA that they can take at the end of the school year,” Dubee said. “It’s up to them; we don’t do any hands-on, actual flying, but we have three partners they can work with if they’re interested in that.”

One feature that has drawn students to the program is the availability of pilot simulators.

“After we talk about something, we then go to the simulator, and they get to do it,” Dubee said. “Students enjoy that they can see exactly what PDK (DeKalb-Peachtree Airport) looks like, with all the airport markings. In fact, we can pick any airport and do simulator training on everything from a Cessna to an Airbus.”

It’s those practical applications building needed on-the-job skills that make the program important, Assistant Principal Scott Townsend said.

“This unique program not only equips students with theoretical aviation knowledge but also provides practical aviation training using the National Institute of Standards and Technology training courses that are recognized and utilized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Marshals,” he said. “They ensure that students receive industry-standard instruction.”

In the current class, Dubee said students have expressed interests in jobs as air traffic controller, flight attendant, military pilot, airline operations and corporate management, and drone operations.

“It’s a broad view, but it’s all geared around flight,” he said. “Even the flight attendants need to know how the plane operates.”

Dubee plans a summer program geared specifically toward middle-schoolers. More information is online at igrad.cherokeek12.net/ c3-academy.

COURTESY Students enrolled in the Cherokee College and Career Academy Aviation Pathway practice their skills on simulators.