Taking their first steps towards a career in aviation, 16 students of the high school. A. B. Miller at Fontana recently completed a 10-week training course designed to inspire them to become commercial airline pilots.
The free Shades of Blue course, held on Saturdays at Ontario International Airport, provides students with access to pilots, engineers, mechanics, air traffic controllers and other aerospace professionals who introduce them to the basics of aviation and pilot training. The completion ceremony took place on December 18 at the airport.
“Shades of Blue offers AB Miller students a unique opportunity to work with experienced pilots and industry professionals,” Tim Yelin, Associate Principal of AB Miller High School, said in a press release. “Students are making connections that will help them if they want to switch to commercial flight.”
Shades of Blue, with six chapters in the United States, is a non-profit mentoring and internship organization for young people who want to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and educate the future aviation and aerospace workforce. Sciences.
Shades of Blue and the accompanying aerospace program Barbosa Space Center, which focuses on preparing students to become astronauts, are the latest additions to AB Miller’s professional aviation education. Saturday-only courses allow students to learn directly from aerospace professionals. Both courses are taught at the Ontario International Airport.
Aerospace professionals who mentor students include Shades of Blue California President Tony Marshall, a former US Air Force fighter pilot and retired United Airlines commercial pilot.
The AB Miller Aviation Path, now in its third year, includes a pilot training class, an aircraft mechanics class, and a flight simulator lab with five large simulators, two of which are motion simulators, and 14 smaller simulators. At the end of the two-year journey, students take the Federal Aviation Administration written exam for the Private Pilot Certification.
The AB Miller students who received certificates of completion were Sr. Eduardo Gonzalez; juniors Nathan Aguilar, Juan Bustos Romero and Philippe Garcia; sophomores Christian Avila, Henry Castillo, Frank Gutierrez, Ryan Palacio, and Arturo Garcia; and freshmen Camila Alverez, Daniela Gonzalez, Carlos Ruedas, Eric Sanchez, Joshua Vazquez, Luis Viramontes, and Cruz Valenzuela.
Access to the Shades of Blue program is provided through a California Community Colleges Strong Workforce Grant distributed between Fontana Unified School District and Chaffee Unified School District in conjunction with Ontario International Airport.
