
A
youthful
fascination
with
"the
history
of
planes,
especially
World
War
II
aircraft,"
is
what
led
Woodbridge
High
School
junior,
Aaron,
to
take
the
Aviation
Maintenance
course,
making
a
significant
impact
on
thoughts
for
his
post-secondary
path.
A
similar
curiosity
was
expressed
by
fellow
classmate,
Aidan,
who
shared,
"I
live
between
an
airport
and
a
marine
base,
and
would
see
a
lot
of
planes
and
helicopters
flying
over,
so
I
became
interested
in
how
they
work."
Aaron,
Aidan,
and
almost
30
students
at
Woodridge,
and
Unity
Reed
High
are
taking
Aviation
Maintenance
I
and
II.
This
Career
and
Technical
Education
course
is
taught
by
instructor,
Scott
Kenney,
who
is
also
a
program
coordinator
with
the
Aviation
Institute
of
Maintenance.
"The
growth
rate
in
aviation
is
higher
than
we've
ever
seen
it
before,"
exclaimed
Kenney.
"Because
of
COVID,
a
lot
of
the
technicians
who
were
working
for
the
airlines
were
given
early
retirement."
Kenny
also
shared
a
subsequent
industry-wide
scramble
for
new
technicians
to
fill
a
projected
need
of
"300,000
mechanics,
world-wide,
by
2025."
Woodbridge
sophomore,
Ahmed,
recommends
the
course
to
interested
students.
"It's
been
a
lot
of
fun
with
hands-on
projects...
and
I've
also
enjoyed
the
field
trips.
I
feel
like
I've
been
learning
a
lot
this
year."
said
Ahmed.
Aaron,
Aidan,
and
other
students
expressed
an
interest
in
aviation
maintenance
as
a
career.
"Within
five
to
sevenyears,
you
can
actually
make
over
$100,000
a
year
as
an
aviation
mechanic"
proclaimed
Kenney,
adding
that
"the
airlines
are
always,
always
hiring."