The administration at Air Academy High School has recently introduced a variety of Career and Technical Education offerings for the 2024/2025 school year. This week, they unveiled two new career academies, an aviation pathway, and multiple STEM electives to expand students’ opportunities for vocational learning.
“We’re really excited about the direction that the school is moving. We are implementing what we call our Academy and an additional pathway program,” Principal Olson said.
These exciting new developments at Air Academy will soon provide diversified fields of study as well as an advanced educational program for students.
“This is the start of a new wave of what business is going to be looking like in D20 high schools. We are the first school that’s getting this populated,” college and career counselor, Sean Brotherton said.
“The academies are where if a student is really interested in one specific area, they can dive deep into that and it’s almost like an immersive experience. We’re going to have one around Entrepreneurship and one around Media Arts,” Olson said.
A school within a school is how Academies are best described, with overarching career paths like Media Arts representing majors, and subjects within these career paths, like Tech Theater and Set Design, resembling concentrations.
These Academies’ open curriculum approach to learning aims to prepare and adapt students for successful careers and college life. Students only have to focus on the subjects that they want to study professionally, and nothing else.
“Not everyone knows what they want to do when they’re in high school, but for people who do, we want to provide the Academy so that they have an opportunity to do what they love as often as possible,” assistant Principal Liz Walhof said.
Despite the number of students whose aspirations are indefinite and unclear, many students’ passions will one day translate into real occupations.
“I think the Academies will definitely be beneficial. I really like Greek mythology and writing, and as a senior, I wish that we had incorporated subjects that I’m actually interested and passionate about in my core classes,” senior Alice “Wren” Fabian said.
While other schools currently have Career and Technical Education programming, Air Academy is ahead of D20 by at least a year. Air Academy is leading the district in a specialized curriculum, which administrators feel positions the school in a competitive framework.
“We’re launching next year, and all the other high schools are going to be a year or two out from Air Academy High School. That’s why we decided to do it,” Mr. Olson said.
In a constant race for progression and development, Air Academy stands out from the rest of the D20 District in academics, faculty, student life, and extracurricular opportunities.
We looked at ways that we could not only leverage our strengths but what our students here at Air Academy wanted and needed,” Mr. Olson said.
Air Academy continues to progress, exposing students to career opportunities, competitive resume building, business, entrepreneurship, and life skills for after high school. With these new Academies coming soon, this could truly be the beginning of a new era for Air Academy.
~Kaitlyn Marks