Oklahoma Aviation Academy Kicks Off First Freshman Class, With Big Hopes for the Future

Aug. 15—As school starts this week, Norman Public Schools is launching just over 80 freshmen into their education in the aviation field.

NPS announced last fall that it would work to bring an ambitious idea to life by opening the Oklahoma Aviation Academy to serve the state's high school students.

The idea for an academy came from Rick Nagel, a member of the University of Oklahoma's Board of Regents and CEO of Acorn Growth Companies, but NPS was eager to make it happen within an existing school district.

In the last few months, the district has brought the academy to life with the help of local education and business partners, including the Moore Norman Technology center and the University of Oklahoma.

The academy will begin this fall with a director, three teachers and 82 students at Max Westheimer Airport. Students will spend half their days at the airport in math, English and aviation classes and the other half at their home school sites.

District Superintendent Nick Migliorino said the academy received significant interest, with around 160 applicants for this first freshman class. Leadership initially envisioned about 30 to 50 students in the class.

"There hasn't been any negative on this ... one of the things we do well in Norman is provide options for students, programs for students, opportunities, and this is just the same thing — it's another opportunity," Migliorino said. "Obviously, just with the freshman numbers, it's something people want."

Migliorino said the freshman class is about 33% women, a number above industry averages. The Seattle Times reported in 2020 that 18% of aerospace engineers were female, while just 5.3% of pilots globally were female.

Terry Adams came from Bixby Public Schools, where he was the 2022 Oklahoma high school principal of the year at Bixby High School, to take on the academy director role.

Adams said while he doesn't have an aviation background himself, he brings 26 years of public education experience to NPS and is looking forward to "get[ting] in on a concept that has really never been tried before."

"I was just excited to start a school from the ground up," Adams said. "I've always been excited about academics and career pathways and helping students kind of find a passion for what they want to do in their lives."

The academy already has gotten moving this summer. Adams and teachers have been getting to know students by hosting four "Aviation Fridays." Adams brought in industry speakers and had students tour OU's aviation facility.

"I think there's a lot of excitement both in the school community and the business community for what we're trying to do, and the support has been just unparalleled," Adams said. "From the academic side to the financial piece, we've just been very fortunate to have a lot of big supporters."

The academy's advisory board also has been meeting to start guiding the district and connecting NPS with resources. The board is composed of local aerospace and education leaders like Nagel and OU President Joe Harroz, people who can bring industry expertise to the table, Migliorino said.

"We know how to do school; we need people inserting aviation, those other skillsets in from the outside," Migliorino said.

Chuck Thompson, managing partner and president of The American Investment Group and chair of the academy's advisory board, said the academy offers a number of benefits to Norman and the state, from prepping students for the industry to attracting new businesses to Norman.

Thompson said multiple businesses are looking toward Norman, now that the academy has brought the aviation industry to town. The academy is open to students from across the state via the district's open transfer policy, a feature Thompson said will likely attract families from all over Oklahoma.

Beyond Norman, Adams said he hopes for the academy to boost the state's booming aerospace industry by providing a ready workforce.

"What we want to do is provide a true pipeline for students to come out and be college and work ready in those aviation fields that they're interested in and also meet the needs of the businesses and higher education institutions that need a pipeline of students that are interested in those things," Adams said.

Migliorino said the district will gauge the success of this first academic school year by metrics like retention and re-enrollment, along with interest and applications for next year's freshman class.

The academy also will focus heavily this first year on creating pathways to specific aviation and aerospace careers that students can choose from and follow in coming years, Adams said.

NPS plans to grow the program significantly over the next few years, with more involvement with MNTC and OU down the road.

Migliorino said he hopes for students from multiple institutions to be able to learn together at the academy and to build in opportunities for academy students who want to attend OU.

Migliorino said the academy won't come at extra cost to the district. NPS is relying on grants to fund some aspects of the academy and is shifting resources to cover others.

The district has talked with industry leaders like Boeing and American Airlines, receiving both interest and financial support via grants, he said.

"I'm not going to let it take away from any other program or any other site," Migliorino said.

Within four or five years, Migliorino said he envisions 600 to 700 full-time academy students at a facility built for the program.

"The great thing is, if we get this recipe correct ... you can think about being able to roll this into health care. Maybe there are options for kiddos who want to go into health care or any other industry," Migliorino said. "We can just now take this recipe, this model for success and now apply it to different industries."

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Chuck Thompson is with The American Investment Group, not Armstrong Bank. The Transcript regrets the error.

Emma Keith is the editor of The Transcript, where she covers Norman Public Schools and the University of Oklahoma. Reach her at [email protected] or at @emma_ckeith.

     ___

     (c)2022 The Norman Transcript (Norman, Okla.)

     Visit The Norman Transcript (Norman, Okla.) at www.normantranscript.com

     Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.