Oklahoma’s aviation and aerospace sector continues to soar with a current statewide workforce of more than 120,000 and an economic impact of $44 billion. The Greater Oklahoma City region alone boasts about 43,000 aviation and aerospace workers, led by Tinker Air Force Base, the state’s largest single-site employer, and the FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, as well as almost 300 other entities, such as Boeing, AAR, Field Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney and others.

With the industry’s economic trajectory expected to reach even loftier heights in the years and decades to come, having an available pipeline of workers is critical to the industry’s long-term growth and viability. To that end, Norman Public Schools launched the Oklahoma Aviation Academy this fall as a way to expose more high school students from across the state and metro to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and to encourage them to consider aviation as a career choice.

The idea for establishing an “aviation high school” in Norman was the brainchild of University of Oklahoma Regent Rick Nagel, who also is managing partner of Acorn Growth Companies. After visiting with NPS board members and school superintendent Dr. Nick Migliorino last fall, the idea quickly gained steam and within less than a year, the Oklahoma Aviation Academy was born. It is currently housed in North Campus Building 210 at OU’s Max Westheimer Airport and sports an initial class of 107 students, which includes about 90 high school freshmen.

“When we opened up the applications, between 150 and 160 kids applied. We accepted an initial class of 84 students and then decided to open up another zero-hour class for those who did not make that first round or were upperclassmen, as the academy was limited to ninth graders only,” said Aviation Academy Director Terry Adams.

Adams, who has spent the last 25 years in public education as a teacher, coach and school administrator in various Oklahoma public schools, including Bixby High School where he was recognized as the 2022 High School Principal of the Year by the Oklahoma Association of Secondary School Principals, said the aviation academy is designed to be a comprehensive STEM school. All students attending the academy take an aviation class in addition to other courses as part of their designated pathway, he said, whether it's pursuing a private pilot’s license or certificate in commercial drone piloting, or some other career path.

“We’re exploring offering pathways like meteorology, airport management and air traffic control, just trying to provide a well-rounded STEM experience that prepares students for careers after high school,” Adams said. “Moore Norman Technology Center is going to open an A&P – airframe and powerplant – maintenance program next fall for adults and, hopefully, the following year for high school students. That could also provide another pathway for our academy students as a career choice.”

Instructors will teach students curriculum developed by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, a national organization that advocates for general aviation, that allows students to explore all facets of aviation, including commercial aviation, general aviation, military aviation and unmanned aerial system fundamentals and operations and safety, in addition to current and future space exploration. They will even get to build their own wind tunnel and test air foils in order to understand how air moves the air foils. And that is just in the first semester alone!

Fifty-seven different schools across Oklahoma are teaching AOPA’s curriculum; however, the vast majority of them only offer the curriculum as a one-class elective that is taught directly at the school. Kids at the Aviation Academy, on the other hand, are bused to Westheimer Airport and spend a half-day immersed in aviation and STEM-related courses.

“There are many days the kids look outside and see planes taking off and landing. We even had a Black Hawk helicopter land and take off the other day that the kids got to watch. They can get a very immersive experience just by being around other aviators,” Adams said.

Creating an aviation academy, especially in the short amount of time Norman Public Schools took to accomplish such a feat, takes a lot of coordination, collaboration and, more importantly, money. The academy has an advisory board made up of local aerospace and education leaders, including Rick Nagel, OU Provost Andre Wright, Vice President for Campus Operations Brian Holderread and Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission Director Grayson Ardies, that provides guidance to the academy and NPS officials, including where they might find the necessary financial resources to help run the academy.

“[The support] has been great. OU has been terrific, and their aviation program welcomed us in and even rearranged some of their classes to accommodate us. The business community, in particular, has reached out and wants to participate and help. We were able to get a number of grants, including our largest grant of $100,000 from Boeing, with smaller grants from The Norman Public Schools Foundation, Inasmuch Foundation, the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission and the FAA. We’ve been very fortunate to have some financial resources early on as well,” Adams said.

District officials envision the academy to grow by leaps and bounds over the next four to five years, serving perhaps as many as 600 students a year. But to achieve that goal, the academy will most likely require a facility of its own. Discussions are currently underway as to how that can be accomplished.

“The numbers are only limited by the space we have and the number of students we can serve. We would love to have a facility at Max Westheimer Field or very close to there,” Adams said.