Taxi to Takeoff class helps aviation careers
Program introduces students to the inner workings of flight
Every Monday and Wednesday morning this semester, 12 high school students from the Dublin, Hilliard and Worthington school districts make their way to the Ohio State University Airport.
They are the first high schoolers to participate in the Taxi to Takeoff Aviation Academy, a new program offered to students enrolled in Ohio State’s College Credit Plus program to introduce them to the inner workings of careers in aviation. The program was announced last spring as a partnership between Ohio State and Dublin City Schools.
Taxi to Takeoff is a college-level program at the Ohio State University Airport, 2160 W. Case Road in Columbus, and the main Ohio State campus.
It began Aug. 25, and this is the first year high school students are eligible to take these courses,
according to Lori Mesi, Emerald Campus administrator for Dublin City Schools.
TODAY Network Ohio bureau.
According to Gross, she was removed because she tried to bypass normal procedures to force her bill onto the House floor through a discharge petition. If a majority of legislators sign it, the bill would immediately go before the entire Ohio House instead of having to pass out of committee first.
Republican leadership, however, has put the brakes on her bill, which has stalled in committee, and warned any of its own members against signing the petition.
House Bill 248 gained national attention after Dr. Sherri Tenpenny falsely claimed during a hearing that vaccines caused magnetism. Gross invited Tenpenny to speak in support of her bill.
Powerful lobby groups such as hospitals and the Ohio Chamber of Commerce have thrown their weight against the bill. Republican Gov. Mike Dewine also opposes the bill, as well as government-mandated vaccinations.
Gross said she felt the need to try to bypass the committee because of the urgency resulting from President Joe Biden issuing a vaccine mandate for large employers.
But House GOP leadership is thinking otherwise, while numerous other bills offering more COVID-19 focused approaches have also popped up. Leaders are still working on an alternative approach to the issue.
“We have a good bill in the works that all six of us in the House are working on,” Rep. Bill Seitz, R-green Township, told Fox 19. ”We are just about to unveil it. We are hoping this week.”
Titus Wu is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other news organizations.