HIGH SCHOOL AVIATION PROGRAM TAKES FLIGHT

The Florence One School District’s Advantage Academy launched its brand new Aviation Program in December 2021 when two local pilots took several students on discovery flights from Florence Regional Airport (FLO) in Florence, South Carolina. Thanks to a $339,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Academy was able to initiate the program for the 2021-22 school year and selected its first 18 students. The grant was one of four FAA Aviation Workforce Development Aircraft Pilots grants that were awarded to public school districts. A total of 16 such grants were awarded nationwide with most of them going to higher education institutions.

The grant will be used to pay Carolina Flight Academy at FLO for flight training for the first five students this year with plans to expand the flight training portion of the program to ten students next year. The Florence One Academy’s program is the only one in South Carolina that includes covering expenses for flight training. Other programs in the state provide only the introductory ground school portion, while students and/or their families are responsible for the flight training expenses which could easily be $10,000 or more.