Salem-Keiser Public School purchased a building at the McNary Field Airport (KSLE) in Salem, Oregon, in December 2022, that will be home to the district’s expanding Aviation program.
“The school board voted unanimously this week to purchase the property at 3080 25th St. SE for $1.825 million,” reported the Salem Statesman Journal. “The goal is to use the building, which includes office, classroom, lab, and hangar space, to expand the Salem-Keizer Public Schools Career and Technical Education Center (CTEC) drone program into a broader aviation program.”
District officials plan to open the building in time for the fall 2023 school year.
Part of the district’s Career Technical Education Center (CTEC), officials state students in the aviation program will:
- Work alongside aviation professionals in the fields of piloting, aircraft maintenance, and drones
- Apply emerging technologies to perform aircraft repairs, navigate flight simulators, and program drone technology
- Maintain, repair, and operate airplane and avionics systems including navigation, communications, engine control, and flight controls
Salem-Keizer’s CTEC is home to 10 program tracks that include Auto Body Repair and Painting, Business Development, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts, Law Enforcement, Manufacturing, Residential Construction, Sustainable Plant Science, and Video and Game Design.
More technical training is definitely needed, but can also be well supplied by employers through apprenticeship programs. From my experience, the best apprentices are found in home schools, especially when the parents are farmers or own their own businesses making, fixing or growing things. See Apprenticeship 2000 and NCTAP.org in North Carolina for two examples of outstanding apprenticeship programs based closely on the proven Swiss Dual Education system – run entirely by employers, not government.