Dallas ISD and Dallas Airport System are working together on a program to show students potential careers they could follow in aviation. Two hundred fifty middle and high school students attended an educational event this week at the Frontiers of Flight Museum.
"We do a lot of work in middle school to begin that career exploration opportunity so kids understand all the possibilities for careers they've got," Dallas ISD Executive Director of Workforce Development Michael Gagne said.
He said kids who come from low-income families or without a strong role model in the home may not be exposed to every career field they are interested in. He said events like the "Leaps & Bounds" conference can give students hands-on experience to try different things.
"Those kids can have more experiences they can make life decisions on," Gagne said.
During the conference, students heard from Captain Barrington Irving who holds the Guinness World Record for the youngest and first Black pilot to fly solo around the world.
"What's important with what Dallas Love Field and Dallas ISD are doing is they're coming together to help students understand what exists in their backyard," Irving said.
Irving said he grew up in a low-income neighborhood of Miami and only learned he could become a pilot after a chance meeting with a pilot when he was a kid. He said he hoped his story would show kids how many options are available to them and how much they can achieve through hard work.
"When I started in aviation, I literally had three holes in the bottom of my shoes. I still have those shoes to this day to remind me where I came from," he said.
The Dallas Airport System's Dawn Blair said in one case, a student learned about potential jobs in aviation only because of the mid-air collision in his neighborhood during the Wings Over Dallas airshow in 2022.
"This kid, born and raised in Oak Cliff, never knew about Dallas Executive Airport. He found out about the airport as a result of the plane crash a year and a half ago," she said. "He went to work for Southwest Airlines cleaning planes. Just being on the airfield, he figured out, 'This is what I want to do. I don't know what it is, but I want to be in this space.'"
Blair said the event this week was designed to show kids potential jobs in aviation but will also benefit the organization by preparing the next generation of employees.
"The most important thing is these are high-paying jobs," Blair said. "When you're talking about technology, we're just trying to play our role in exposure."
She said the next generation will fill jobs like pilot, mechanic, and air traffic controller, but they will also see advances in technology like the use of drones and robotics, so by sparking kids' interest at a young age, they can have a workforce ready for the future.
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