Where Learning Takes Off
School Prepares Students for Careers

Aviation High School is a special place, and you can tell from the moment you arrive. For starters, a Boeing 727 is parked just outside the building. The aircraft, donated by Federal Express, offers students practical training on a large, modern plane.

Aviation's main campus is in Long Island City, but the school's popular annex program is on the grounds of Kennedy Airport in Queens. Admission to the annex program is very competitive. Once admitted, however, the students are eager to participate—one teacher recounted a student who lives just a few blocks from the main campus, but instead chooses to travel over an hour each way to get the hands-on experience at JFK.

Students at Aviation are immersed in aircraft maintenance, and the field's constantly changing technology requires a steady stream of new technicians. When students graduate, they are easily able to transition into aviation careers—in no small part due to the extensive partnerships their school maintains with employers.
 
“There’s a lot of pride in this school,” says Mike Fischer, who teaches aviation technology and is the school's internship coordinator.

Each year, Fischer works with airlines, maintenance companies, and airport offices to provide internships for Aviation students, who work up to 20 hours a week after school hours. From there, many students are offered jobs or cooperative learning programs that allow them to go to college while continuing to work. In fact, he says 12 percent of all aviation technicians in the United States are graduates of this very program.

“Students come back here because of pride,” says Mario Cotumaccio, an assistant principal. Like Fischer, Cotumaccio has professional experience in the field, and both leverage their extensive contacts to help their students find internships and jobs.

In his 2008 State of the City Address, Mayor Bloomberg announced a renewed focus on career and technical education (CTE), with the formation of a task force charged with overhauling the city’s vocational education programs. The Mayor said that strong CTE programs are critical to preparing students for the technical careers of the future.

The Fund for Public Schools has raised significant private support for the initial work of the task force, which recently issued a report making several recommendations on how CTE programs can better train students for the careers of the future.

Nancy Kumar, a student in her last year, has always been fascinated by air traffic control. One of a small but growing number of girls in the program, Nancy works 15 hours a week at Kennedy's control tower.

“I love that view,” she says. Nancy was drawn to Aviation for its CTE program, and describes the academics as “college-level.” Cotumaccio echoes this sentiment, saying that the school's graduates have a "been there, done that" attitude about the rigors of college-level work.

Robert Cebula, another student, emigrated from Poland when he was nine. He says he understands the importance of the training he receives at the school.

“In aviation, you have lots of responsibility,” says Cebula, who interns with North American Airlines. “We have peoples’ lives in our hands.”

Fischer and Cotumaccio are more than just teachers at Aviation—they are also proud alumni. In fact, of the 63 aviation maintenance technology teachers at the school, an astonishing 59 are alumni. “So much knowledge comes out of aviation," says Fischer, "that our graduates are natural teachers.”