LOISD plans to offer high school aviation program

Travis Hairgrove, The Herald Banner, Greenville, Texas
Updated ·2 min read

Jan. 28—The Lone Oak Independent School District is working on getting its career aviation program off the ground.

At the district's school board meeting earlier this week, LOISD Supt. Janeé Carter presented the first official public preview of the anticipated program, in which students will have the opportunity to build an airplane, and in the process, learn technical/mechanical skills and earn industry certifications.

With L3Harris having a plant in Greenville — and with American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Lockheed Martin and Boeing all having branches within a 50-mile radius of Hunt County — Lone Oak ISD hopes to use aviation and aerospace education to build a program that fits well with workforce needs in the area.

"I'm super excited about this. ... We want to bring in an aviation program that ties directly into ... workforce needs in this area," Carter said. "It's to prepare our students to go into aviation mechanics, become pilots, and learn all the different aspects of the field, but it also ties into our workforce skills."

The district's aviation program is being developed through Tango Flight, a non-profit organization that's currently providing technical support, mentor training, and co-mentoring for aviation programs at 22 high schools across the country.

Partnered with multinational aerospace corporation Airbus and the aerospace engineering department at Wichita State University, Tango Flight also developed the curriculum used in the program.

"When a school comes to us and wants to do a Tango Flight program now, we can offer them a turnkey solution," Tango Flight co-founder and executive director Dan Weyant said in a promotional video.

The four-year program consists of two classes (Introduction to Aerospace and Aviation, and Introduction to Aircraft Technology), as well as practicums during which the students will build an FAA-certified Van's RV-12iS airplane over the course of two years. The program also includes an internship.

To offer the program, which will begin with next year's freshmen, Lone Oak ISD is seeking foundational partners to help fund it. For reference, when Georgetown ISD built its first plane through Tango Flight in 2017, it cost about $80,000.

Those interested in helping Lone Oak ISD with the program may contact Carter at 903-662-5427 or through email at jcarter@loisd.net.

"What I'm most excited about is that our kids are going to be able to be part of something the first time it's offered ... something that ties directly to what everyone is looking for in our kids' STEM education, or to send them to college," Carter said. "It's going to open doors that have never been opened before."