St. Paul, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), Office of Aeronautics, Aviation Education Section, recently earned national honors from the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO), for its new Aviation Career Curriculum and Education Program.
The award was presented to Raymond J Rought, Mn/DOT, Director of Aeronautics, Sept. 12 in New Orleans, Louisiana, during the NASAO annual conference. Janese Thatcher, Aviation Education section manager, and Darlene Dahlseide, aviation education specialist, received the award Sept. 18, 2006, during a local ceremony at the Aeronautics office in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The Aviation Career Curriculum and Education Program was developed to further aviation education and provide a seamless transition for high school students into aviation colleges and universities throughout Minnesota. The program consists of a curriculum for high schools that will prepare students to enter an aviation career occupation program in a Minnesota college or university. It qualifies high school students to transfer validation of their mastery of the aviation subject areas to a postsecondary program and not have to repeat or pay for those learning experiences at those institutions.
The specified aviation occupations in the curriculum at the high school level are linked and aligned with the aviation occupations programs at the post secondary level. This virtually eliminates duplication and overlap of instruction. Fields of study in this program include pilot training, aviation maintenance, aircraft dispatch, air traffic control services, aviation management, and aerospace engineering.
High Schools and MNSCU institutions that are currently participating in the program include Columbia Heights High School, Washburn High School in Minneapolis, Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls, Anoka Technical College, and Minneapolis Community and Technical College.
