One of the state’s oldest charter schools that’s set to revolutionize the state’s aerospace industry opened the doors to its new building Thursday.
Rising eigth grader Vy Bui is excited about starting a new school year at Phoenix Academy.
“It’s amazing,” Bui said. “There’s a lot of opportunities out there in the aviation industry, and this really puts us forward.”
She helped Governor Pat McCrory cut the ribbon on the school’s brand new building thursday.
“We have a skills gap right now in North Carolina,” Gov. McCrory said. “We have a lot of kids that are graduating from high schools, community colleges and universities, that frankly aren’t meeting the skills needs of what the private sector needs right now.”
“We have an aging workforce in aviation,” said HAECO Americas vice president Kip Blakely. “So many people that were in the Vietnam War, when they got out of the military, they came to work in aviation. Those folks are ready to retire.”
The school will hopefully fill thousands of those gaps in the coming years.
“Phoenix Academy is going to afford people a career and opportunity in aviation that’s really going to change our entire industry,” Blakely said.
An aviation hangar at the school will soon be home to a prototype of an airplane that will give students hands-on experience.
“We plan to have students plan to come to visit by the time they’re in the 9th and 10th grade,” Blakely said. “By the time they’re in the 11th grade, they’ll have a five-week job shadowing opportunity. Then, by the time they’re seniors, they’ll be co-enrolled at GTCC, and have a paid internship at one of the aviation companies here in Greensboro.”
The first day of classes for students at the school is Friday, August 21.