MELBOURNE, Fla. – With the volume of high tech and specialized companies on the Space Coast and looking to expand in Brevard County and Florida in general, the demand for more skilled workers is only increasing.

Many of those jobs don’t require a four-year college degree and several companies are looking to high school graduates that are able to leave with key certifications in hand. In a presentation set to be discussed in more detail during the next Brevard Public School board meeting, the district notes that “in 2022, 53 percent of BPS students enrolled in college immediately following high school.”

That means there is ample opportunity for the other 47 percent to look to jobs in the skilled trades. It’s also one of the reasons why the board approved a proclamation naming February as Career Technical Education Month, echoing the Association for Career Technical Education.

One of the programs that’s getting more interest is the Aviation Fabrication and Assembly program at Eau Gallie High School. Its instructor, Bill McInnish, was awarded the Thomas E. Gamble Excellence in Education for Economic Development Award from the Economic Development Commission (EDC) of Florida’s Space Coast.

“We started this program eight years ago in the senior locker room with a Conex box and where the hangar is now, was a parking lot and we had an airplane with a fence around it tied down in the parking lot,” McInnish said. “Eight years later, we’re standing here in a hangar full of aircraft.”

The U.S. Coast Guard veteran who served for 22 years came to the program eight years ago and said his students are constantly in demand by companies in and around the Space Coast. McInnish said it’s a high point of pride seeing the amount of demand there is for their skills.

His career before joining Brevard Public Schools was also teaching young people and said being able to provide those hands-on skills was one of the benefits of him not becoming an engineer.

“What gives me joy is seeing them go onto amazing careers, making good money and that’s what drove me in that direction instead of just going the engineering route,” McInnish said.

He said one of the reasons why the program has been able to become as successful as it has been is thanks to the generosity of industries in the community. The EDC gave them a $40,000 grant spread over three years as the program was ramping up and Embraer Foundation also provided a $10,000 grant for materials.

Earlier this week, Embraer Foundation gave the program another grant of $12,500, which will go towards supplies, equipment and other program needs.

“That’s forward thinking. That’s what are we going to do to get the next generation of technicians and pilots and everything else into aviation and aerospace,” McInnish said. “The problem with our industry is it’s getting old. It’s like me. We’re getting old. We need that youth, that infusion of youth back into aerospace and aviation. And that’s what’s critical right now.”

“Education has always been at the core of our social responsibility initiatives and this program reinforces that commitment – not only to inspiring youth through aviation, but to developing a high-performing and diverse talent pipeline,” said Monica Newman McCluney, head of Corporate Social Responsibility and the Embraer Foundation for the US, in a statement.

One of the highlights for students is getting to work on multiple projects for NASA supporting ongoing space missions. They’ve created metal ties used during spacewalks, metal lockers used for storage and assembling prototype wheels for a future lunar vehicle.

“Well, I never thought that they were going to come to us, but I was very excited when they did because having kids working for NASA itself and doing projects for NASA gives them the ability to take that skill straight into the workforce,” McInnish said.

Senior Kirra Parker said she was originally thinking about pursuing work as a pilot, but when she joined the program, she discovered working on all these hands-on project was actually her passion.

“This program is unlike any other I’ve seen. I was supposed to go to a different high school than this one, but I came here specifically for this program,” Parker said. “I’ve learned to work with my hands more and I figured out that’s something I love.”

McInnish said companies routinely reach out asking how many students will be graduating from the program each year. They leave with valuable certifications, such as those through ASTM, CerTEC and SpaceTEC.

Some of them, like senior Marcello Maldonado, begin paid internships while in high school and are already working towards full-time jobs.

“It’s eye-opening because then you really start figuring out what your next steps are after high school,” Maldonado said.

McInnish said it’s wonderful to see how much the business community and others in Brevard County are stepping up to support this and other CTE programs across the district. He looks forward to seeing this program expand as more partners help young people climb the ladder into future careers.

“I was a multiple retiree when I came into this job. So, I’m not in this any longer as a job, but as an opportunity to work with the kids and see them become successful,” McInnish said. “So, any kind of accolades like that are overshadowed by watching the kids go out and working at SpaceX and Blue Origin and L3Harris and Embraer and all these great corporations getting good jobs at good money with good benefits. That’s what keeps you going, is watching their success.”