FORTVILLE — Castle Llewellyn remembers the family vacation that first inspired him to become a pilot.
He was aboard an airplane, gazing out the window, high in the sky, and just became fascinated with it all, he said.
Now, the Greenfield-Central senior is among the first group of students to participate in an aviation class, offered jointly by two county schools. Taking the college introductory-level course while he’s still in high school should put him on the fast track to earning his wings, he said.
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Mt. Vernon High School and Greenfield-Central High School are for the first time offering a joint aviation class to students this school year, and participation in the lessons will earn them credits at Ivy Tech Community College.
The classes are held daily at Mt. Vernon High School. They take the style of a college lecture where they learn about everything from weather to airplane mechanics, students said.
And on some weekends, students have the opportunity to get away from the classroom and take to the skies. Already, a few students have had the chance to climb into the cockpit of small airplanes, flying from Hancock County into Shelbyville and back.
Teachers hope that as lessons progress, they’ll one day be able to hold classes at the Indianapolis Regional Airport in McCordsville. They’d like to see the program expand to be available to more local high-schoolers from other districts, too.
Jack Morton, the course instructor, has been a pilot for more than 25 years and has been teaching people to fly for 10 years.
While most of the students involved in the course have aspirations to become pilots, they learn quickly that there plenty of other aviation-related careers at their fingertips, he said.
Morton plans to bring pilots and other aviation experts into the school throughout the semester to speak with the students about their different experiences so that the teens can learn as much as possible, he said.
Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central’s school boards simultaneously approved the new course at meetings over the summer, following presentations from their schools’ administrators.
Mt. Vernon Principal Greg Roach and Scott Shipley, the district’s director of secondary education, outlined plans for the class, which is held at Mt. Vernon’s high school but taught by Ivy Tech faculty.
Shipley said the class announcement comes after a long period of talking with students about an interest in the class, Ivy Tech and Republic Airlines, a regional airline company based in Indianapolis.
Shipley said Republic has a keen interest in trying to train and recruit local students who might be interested in aviation careers, which led to the partnership with Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central.
In all, nine students — all juniors and seniors — from the two districts have enrolled in the class. Their participation comes at a cost of $500 each, which breaks down to $25 per credit, with 20 dual enrollment credits given to the students who finish the course.
“You really can’t get a college credit for $25 anywhere,” Roach said. “So that’s a really good deal for our students.”
Llewellyn said he was excited to learn the aviation course would be offered this year because it meant he could start chasing his dreams a bit sooner than he’d originally anticipated, and he appreciates that the two school districts worked together to make this opportunity a reality for kids.
Involvement in the course, even if it means paying a small fee, means getting a college degree a bit sooner, Llewellyn said. Having this class out of the way could mean earning his degree a year sooner.
Matt Medley, representative from Ivy Tech, told the Mt. Vernon Schools board the course would be for anyone interested in an aviation career, whether as a pilot, air traffic controller or mechanic. Upon completion of the course, students would be eligible to take their ground test with the Federal Aviation Administration which is the first step toward obtaining a private pilot’s license.
Both school boards approved the program unanimously and drafted Memorandums of Understanding between Ivy Tech, Republic and their districts.
“I think this is very much in line with our desire to grow our vocational programs,” Shannon Walls, president of the Mt. Vernon board, said.
