Boeing Writes $100,000 Check to NPS for Oklahoma Aviation Academy

Oct. 17—The Norman Public Schools Board of Education welcomed Boeing at its monthly meeting, which presented a check for $100,000 that will be invested in the Oklahoma Aviation Academy.

Terry Adams, OAA director, said this is the second year that Boeing has sponsored the academy at that amount.

The money will go toward labs, field trips, mentorships, internships, extracurriculars and other needed projects.

"OAA was designed to be a hands-on immersive experience of aviation and aerospace," Adams said. "We do that through labs [and providing] experiences in different industries that are surrounded by aviation and aerospace."

Currently, 165 students are enrolled at the academy, 50 of which, or 30%, are female.

Adams said the academy takes an interest in providing instruction that highlights the accomplishments of women and people of color in aviation. This kind of instruction is intended to inspire underrepresented people in the industry to become leaders.

In March, the academy invited Gigi Coleman, the niece of Bessie Coleman, the first African American and Native American woman to earn her international pilot's license.

Alex Capellupo, program director at Boeing, described her experience as a young girl who excelled in mathematics. Despite her high math scores in middle school, high school and college, she said she felt pressure to study a non-STEM field because math wasn't feminine enough.

"Would I have been a rocket scientist? A data scientist? A pilot? I'm not sure, but it is very exciting to know that OAA is offering students those opportunities and connecting them with pathways to meet industry professionals and see what life could be like if they go into the STEM fields."

In 2022, the National Center for Education Statistics released information that Oklahoma students fell 10 points below the national average. In Oklahoma, only 16% of eighth graders are proficient in math and science, compared to 26% in the country.

"What really stood out to me was the focus and excitement on aerospace and aviation at this academy in STEM," she said. "In addition, I'm impressed how Oklahoma Aviation Academy is taking a different approach to learning with their labs, field trips and partnering with experts in the industry."

She said Boeing is taking a special interest in the academy because the OAA will eventually lead its students to jobs in the aerospace industry.

"I have personally never seen anything like this in the country," she said. "That's why Boeing is very interested in this."

Nick Migliorino, district superintendent, said he is hoping to reel in 700 students in the next four years.

"Aviation is not just flying airplanes," Migliorino said. "Every industry [that you would find in an airport] is represented, and that's what we are so excited about, but primarily the STEM areas."

Migliorino said he expects the district to foster this relationship with Boeing for many years in the future.

"At the end of the day, it's about providing opportunities for our students, our young men and young women, who have a vision," Migliorino said.

Adams said the academy was designed to provide hands-on opportunities for students, which requires money.

"Without that funding, it would have been certainly more difficult to have this early success that we've been able to demonstrate and sustain," Adams said.

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