Summer program offers drone training to high school students
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Instead of footballs, it's drones going through the goalposts at South Fayette High School.
Using what looks like a video game controller, girls guide the drones through not only goalposts but rings 2 feet in diameter and land it on a similar-sized pad. This new summer program is helping girls from five local high schools get an FAA license to fly drones in an effort to get more women in the field.
McKeesport High School junior Landree Watkins says, "I've always been really interested in STEM and stuff. I thought this would be a cool opportunity."
Breara Robinson, also a junior at McKeesport High School, says, "I did it because I like aviation. I thought it would be fun."
Twenty girls from McKeesport, Ambridge, Beaver and Baldwin-Whitehall and South Fayette high schools are in this eight-session summer program called FLAG, which stands for Fly Like a Girl.
School leaders want the teenage girls to feel empowered. Emily Sanders, assistant superintendent of Beaver Area School District, says, "In my experience in education for 22 years, boys tend to takeover, and if you have anything that's electric, anything that's sporty, anything that's competitive, they're going to take the first crack at it."
Women make up only 8% of the aviation industry workforce, and less than 3% of commercial pilots are Black or brown.
By offering this summer program specifically to girls, including some in districts with more minority students, they hope to improve those numbers. They hope some will be inspired to pursue careers in aviation, starting with jobs as drone pilots — a job that's expected to grow more than 50% over the next five years.
Dr. Janeen Peretin, director of communication, innovation, and advancement for Baldwin-Whitehall School District, says, "Instead of working at an ice cream shop over the summer, perhaps being a lifeguard, they can actually fly drones. They can work for real estate agents. They can work for roofing companies. Really, it's limitless what they can do for their summer jobs."
At the end of the program, the girls will take the FAA test to get their license to fly a drone. In addition, the grant will pay the $175 test fee for each student, and the instructors will take them there so there is no barrier for them to get their license.
Kristin Deichler, South Fayette School District's assistant superintendent, says, "We want to prepare them for any future they want and to have a skill that is so marketable and crosses all sectors. It really positions them to think about their future and about how they can use it."
These girls are learning that getting a drone license takes more than just piloting skills. They learn a lot in the classroom too.
Baldwin-Whitehall High School junior Gracie Gonzalez says she learned about "different aerospace, different weather things, when we can use the drone, when we can't use the drone, how the drone works, all the different types of drones there are."
Gonzalez wants to use her drone license to possibly become an EMT and rescue people using heat sensors on drones to find people in an avalanche, specifically ones on ski slopes.
"I'm a huge skier, have been skiing ever since I was two, and I would love to help on the ski slopes," she said.
This program is possible because of a Moonshot grant from Remake Learning, which allowed them to purchase the four drones at about $3,000 each. They hope to offer the program to more students in the future.
For more on this and many more STEM programs for young people, click here.
