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Flying High at JMMS

Students at Joseph Melillo Middle School (JMMS) will have a hands-on opportunity to learn about the many educational requirements for a career in aviation with the arrival of the co-ed Aviation Career Exploration (ACE) Program, the first of its kind as a part of any middle school curriculum in Connecticut.

The program comes to JMMS thanks to co-sponsors Avelo Airlines and Aviation Career Exploring, according to principal Darcie Doyon. Aviation Career Exploring provides development and career skills related to aviation education. Doyon said that the sponsors met with East Haven Public Schools (EHPS) Superintendent Erica Forti, and Forti brough the opportunity to the middle school.

“I think it’s what our kids need, a little outside-of-the-box,” said Doyon. “Through a series of meetings in the first two months, we were able to get it off the ground relatively quickly [with a] high-interest rate from students and staff.”

Doyon said the curriculum is currently still being fleshed out, and orchestration between the school, Avelo, and the owners of the airfields prospective students will take field trips to is also still in its working stages.

Students selected for the program were required to compose essays detailing why they believe themselves to be a good fit for participation in the program. Essays were due by Dec. 20.

With significant parent and JMMS staff support, Doyon said the program will be a wonderful opportunity for selected students to gain real, hands-on experience with aviation and its many connected facets conveniently all at airfields in Connecticut, including Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN), and Sikorsky Memorial Airport.

“Developing right here in our backyard, it's perfect,” Doyon said. “They’re looking for people who want to work in the field of aviation.”

Doyon said that the career opportunities for students are vast in the many working parts of aviation, being informed by Avelo Vice President Michael Quiello “that for every pilot’s job, there are over 600 jobs in the field of aviation,” she said.

“When we think of aviation and talk with our students, they think about being a pilot,” she said. “There’s so much more out there for kids than being a pilot. It’s not a very popular career necessarily, there are so many facets of it that kids aren’t even aware of that I wasn’t even aware of.”

The multifaceted nature of the field of aviation was discovered on Dec. 13 during the inaugural “Exploring Aviation Open House” at HVN. There, two busloads of around 80 excited students got a first glimpse at the direct involvement that may be ahead of them.

“They got to go into a jet and sit in the cockpit. The looks on their faces and the level of engagement and interest, they really got to see everything in action. Eyes wide open,” said Doyon.

Students will also learn about the engineering, public health and safety, and traffic control components that are a part of efficient and successful aviation organization and management. Doyon said many open-house attendees were surprised that the field of aviation goes beyond piloting an airplane.

“They can be a firefighter and work at the airport. They can be a plow driver at the airport. There are so many different things that are involved,” Doyon said.

Given the amount of hands-on math and science involved, a teacher from the science department at JMMS will be spearheading the program once its academic courses take flight at the beginning of 2023 in the school calendar year.

“She’s thrilled about the program because it’s something kids need. They need experiential learning, they need to see the benefits of their education in action,” said Doyon. “They sit in the classroom all day, and since COVID, especially, it’s been more, just classroom. They need to be out there and experiencing [hands-on work].”

Students that are selected to participate in the program will meet after school twice a month for courses at JMMS and field trips to airports, both of which will involve learning about air traffic control at HVN and through an airport simulator application, on which they will design a runway configuration. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will be applied to the program in lessons about the aerodynamics and primary flight control surfaces of a plane, and the building of a glider. Students will also head to Sikorsky in Stratford, shifting their focus from airplanes to learning about helicopters.

Additional lessons from Avelo may come about in the program as well, according to Doyon, including the use of their flight simulator.

Overall, Doyon sees the new program as a beneficial educational opportunity for students to expand their horizons occupationally, garner the necessary hands-on experience for a career in aviation, and for their experience to be the benchmark for having a bright future.

“I think it’s great for the building, for the town of East Haven, but most important for the kids,” Doyon said. “No matter what their socio-economic status is, no matter who you are or where you’re coming from, it’s important for kids to know there are opportunities open to you and for, and this program helps you access those. I really hope it opens kids' eyes to different opportunities that are out there and gets them excited about learning, gives them another avenue to learning, and lets them know something else that’s out there for when they graduate from high school, they can do.”