Taking flight this spring: Mount Vernon unveils youth ‘flying plan initiative’
This specialized program will focus on business aviation maintenance, repair and operations - offering valuable training opportunities.
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Mount Vernon is taking flight with a new initiative aimed at empowering its youth with skills in aviation.
"Since I was a kid, I've always seen different career paths, like being pilots or being astronauts, as dreams and aspirations…I didn't know how to bring myself to a point where I could actually be working on these projects," said Carla Sigueroa, a member of the Mt. Vernon Youth Bureau.
On Tuesday, her dream has become a reality. The City of Mt. Vernon's Youth Bureau unveiled a new "flying plan initiative" in conjunction with the Barrington Irvington Technical Training School.
"We aim to inspire a new generation of aviation professionals. We want the youth to see themselves as pilots, mechanics, engineers and entrepreneurs in the aviation world," said Debbie Burrell-Butler, the executive director of the Mt. Vernon Youth Bureau.
The twelve-week rigorous course involves training in the field, but it's also about access and exposure to an industry that they otherwise wouldn't have.
Five lucky members of the youth bureau will be accepted into the program and will begin training to become technicians and fixed base operators.
"For those of you that don't know what a fixed base operator is," said Capt. Barrington Irvington, from the Barrington Irvington Technical Training School. "When a private aircraft lands at an airport, someone needs to take care of that aircraft. Fueling it, towing it, coordinating logistics. They are handling multimillion-dollar aircrafts in order to ensure they can efficiently operate, safely operate."
The program is set to take off this spring.
