Smith
Local high school students with an interest in aviation soon will have an opportunity to explore potential careers.
The Seymour Municipal Airport Authority recently unanimously approved Airport Manager Colin Smith to move forward with developing a work-based learning training plan, which will allow high-schoolers to do unpaid internships at Freeman Municipal Airport.
Smith said he often is contacted by schools in Jackson County about creating a plan for students who have an interest in aviation.
“I was wondering if I might be able to have the blessing from the authority to chase that further,” he said to the board.
When he was an intern at Huntingburg Regional Airport, Smith said it was coordinated with a STEM program at the county’s learning center. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.
“It’s basically to get high school students around from different schools to incorporate more of like a STEM notification based on what I would do during my internship at Huntingburg Regional Airport,” he said. “It’s just to help high school students get more achievements, more understanding of the aviation environment.”
Smith said the program would be similar to the Seymour City Hall internship that’s offered in the summer except this would just be specific to the airport environment and focus on educational work-based learning.
Board member Scott Davis told Smith if he is willing to take it on, he would make a motion to approve the new unpaid internship opportunity. That was seconded and approved.
Smith said he would obtain Huntingburg’s policy for the program to help as he develops the plan for Seymour.
He said the ultimate goal of the program is to help out the community and get more aviation influence at the airport.
For information, contact Smith at 812-522-2031 or [email protected].