News release
The K12 Strong Workforce Program has issued an $899,000 grant to iLEAD California, which plans to use a portion of the grant as seed money to expand aerospace learning at its founding campus, SCVi Charter School in Castaic.
The goal of the new SCVi aerospace career and technical education pathway for grades 9-12 9-12 is to prepare students for high-demand, high-wage careers by increasing college access and workforce training, the school announced in a news release.
Currently, TK-8th grade students attending SCVi learn about aviation and aerospace through projects at each grade level. The launch of the high school aerospace CTE pathway will expose students to careers, skills and dispositions needed to succeed in the aerospace industry, one of the leading industries in the Santa Clarita Valley, the release said.
Chad Powell, codirector of SCVi, expressed enthusiasm about the expansion of the school’s aerospace program. “We are so thrilled to be able to build on the aerospace accomplishments of our TK-8 students with this new pathway for high schoolers, beginning fall 2024,” Powell said in the release. “SCVi has long been known for our innovative projects in this high-demand field. We look forward to further preparing students for aerospace careers.”
Since its founding in 2008, SCVi has emphasized the visual and performing arts, and in 2014, aerospace projects became a focal point of school’s project-based learning curriculum.
Over the years, hundreds of SCVi students have learned the principles of flight, with eighth graders having the opportunity to fly gliders (or sailplanes) and some students even continuing to achieve their glider or small plane pilot’s licenses. In addition, students from third grade through high school have collaboratively designed experiments that have been launched to the International Space Station to be conducted by astronauts and returned to SCVi for post-flight analysis.
