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 "This program is one of only about a dozen in the country. A student who successfully completes our program has basically completed an apprenticeship, practical training that's required to get a license." Head Teacher Nick Herman
Head Teacher
Nick Herman
Good News! Winter 2006
Once again this year, students at the Aviation Center earned their Ruby Award as part of the FAA Aviation Technician Awards program. The students must maintain a 2.0 gpa or better, and attend additional FAA training outside of school. 25 students recently received this award.
The aviation technician program is a three-year program open to sophomores throughout the northwest Ohio area. It prepares high school students for careers as aviation mechanics. Students graduate with a high school diploma and the specialized skills to pass the Federal Aeronautical Administration (FAA) aviation technician license test. Many graduates continue their studies to become pliots, ground controllers, and air traffic controllers.
FROM FEATURE STORY "The sky's the limit" IN AUGUST 2002 OHIO SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION JOURNAL
(Referencing the dozen programs around the country) The schools' instructors are all FAA-certified mechanics with extensive experience in commercial and general aviation. And, the training is so intensive that students who pursue post-secondary options can start their college careers with more than 60 credit hours in aviation mechanics.
A license to learn
The granddaddy of Ohio aircraft mechanic high schools is the Toledo Public Schools Aviation Center, based at the Toledo Express Airport. The program, housed at various Toledo sites since the 1920s, became FAA-certified in 1976, the same year it moved to the airport.
Students spend 3.5 hours a day at the center, with the remainder spent at their home schools. The first year they take prerequisites to the mechanical courses, which they study in the second and third years.
"A student who successfully completes our program has basically completed an apprenticeship, practical training that's required to get a license," said Head Teacher Nick Herman. "That certification is really a license to learn. By no means are they journeyman mechanics. It's going to take four or five years out in the field to get up to speed."
The school district built the aviation center and holds a long-term lease on the land upon which it sits. The facility has runway access, a large hangar, an engine shop, a paint shop, four classrooms, and sheet metal and welding areas.
"We have the same aviation mechanic curriculum here as they do at Columbus State and other colleges," said Herman, who just finished his 10th year at the center. "The college programs cost up to $20,000; our students are getting it for free. All they have to pay for are their books, which they get to keep, and a small lab fee."
Like teachers of many vocational programs that involve big-ticket items, Herman must be resourceful. He has built up a valuable network of contacts and knows how to make a deal. 
"I've been here 10 years and I don't think the district has ever had to buy an airplane, although they do buy a lot of equipment, and the vocational funding is very helpful," Herman said. "Most of the aircraft and parts have been donated. I do a lot of horse-trading and swapping to get these things donated, because of the cost and our limited budget"...
One of the more interesting projects to pass through the hangar was a surplus U.S. Army helicopter acquired by the Ohio Attorney General's Office. The chopper, now used by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCII) to spot marijuana plots, needed some fresh paint over its original coat of drab military green. Ohio Air National Guard pilot Will Willingham, a 1979 aviation center graduate who also is a part-time BCII pilot, thought it was the perfect project for his old school.
"It was great," Herman said. "I had a helicopter here that I could show the kids and we covered our painting curriculum. It took us a year, and now it's flying around catching bad guys."
Total enrollment averages about 50 students, including several girls, under the tutelage of three full-time instructors. There also is a small adult class. The high school students work long hours, and must juggle their aviation courses with the academic classes at their home schools. However, job prospects for graduates are good, and are enhanced by the school's airport location.
"We usually can get the kids jobs without too much trouble," Herman said...
Two of those students recently added to their employability with top showings in a statewide VICA SkillsUSA event. In the competition at Bolton Field near Columbus, Christopher Metcalf placed first and John Stolk took a third in the aviation maintenance technology category.
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Toledo Express Airport
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